


And They Were Roommates

by BonkyBornes (BuckyAndPlums), BuckyAndPlums



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Captain America, Alternate Universe - Pre-serum Steve Rogers in Modern Day, Alternate Universe-Marvel, Alternate Universe-No Hyrda, Boyfriends, Bucky Barnes & Natasha Romanov Friendship, Cute Ending, Fluff, Gen, Idiots in Love, M/M, Marvel Universe, Non-Serum Steve Rogers, Non-Serum Steve Rogers/Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Oblivious Bucky Barnes, Oblivious Steve Rogers, Pepper and Tony wedding, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Roommates, Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson roommates, Stucky - Freeform, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, and they were ROOMMATES, modern day steve and bucky, no homo tho, oh my god they were roommates, soft
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 45,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26169964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckyAndPlums/pseuds/BonkyBornes, https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuckyAndPlums/pseuds/BuckyAndPlums
Summary: Modern-day au. Steve and Bucky are so obviously in love, and the rest of the Avengers have to watch these idiots as they very slowly realize it.~
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Clint Barton, Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, Bruce Banner/Tony Stark, Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton/Steve Rogers, Clint Barton/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton/Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov/Sam Wilson, James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Sam Wilson, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) & Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov/Sam Wilson, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Shuri, Peter Parker/Shuri, Peter Parker/Tony Stark, Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers/Sam Wilson, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Comments: 15
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ****  
> _Please read this to try and get an idea of how everything is kinda set up in this au hehe_  
>  **The avengers are obviously still a thing and Bucky works for SHIELD as the winter soldier (as in SHIELD turned him into the winter soldier and all that crap, just not in a traumatizing/brainwashing way), but Steve doesn’t have anything to do with them other than the fact that he’s Bucky’s bro and therefore hangs out with them all of the time. Also Steve and Sam are roommates lmao.  
> **  
>  OH, and Bucky and Steve aren’t from the 40’s in this au :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Sam are roommates. Bucky's broke. And Nat is just vibing.

“Steve, wake up!”

Steve squinted at his roommate, who threw open the curtain to let the sunlight fill the room. “Sam, what are you doing? What time is it?” Steve moaned, pulling himself up to sit on the edge of his bed.

“It’s nine-thirty and we’re meeting Bucky and Natasha at ten,” Sam explained, bumping Steve’s leg as he jumped onto the top bunk to grab his phone.

“Oh, shoot.” Steve jumped off his bed and grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from his closet. The bathroom was still steaming from Sam’s boiling shower as Steve got dressed.

“You need to take colder showers,” Steve mumbled, taking a seat at their tiny kitchen table.

“At least I take showers,” Sam replied, not looking up from the stove as he was making scrambled eggs.

Steve sighed and ran a hand through his tangled hair.

“You could at least brush your hair,” Sam suggested, plating the eggs. “All those knots in your hair really show that you don’t sleep.”

“I’ll brush it, I just haven’t gotten to it yet.” Steve retorted, taking a plate from Sam. “And I do sleep, I’m not an idiot.”

Sam raised an eyebrow as he tossed a slice of toast onto his plate. “Going to bed at six in the morning, doesn’t exactly count.”

Steve sighed, letting Sam butter his toast as he ate his breakfast.

A few moments later, Sam rushed into the bathroom muttering to himself.

“Here you go!” Sam exclaimed as he returned with a brush, tossing it to Steve. “You have ten minutes.”

Steve dragged himself back into the bathroom, tugging at his knotted hair with the comb. When he finally got most of the knots out, he grabbed a jacket and joined Sam in the kitchen. Sam grabbed his Falcon suit and glanced at Steve before nodding his approval.

“Are you going to fly there?” Steve asked as they stood awkwardly in the elevator.

“Yeah, why?” Sam questioned, stepping closer to the door as the elevator came to a stop.

“Oh, how am I going to get there?”

“I don’t know, take a bus or something.” Sam held the door open for Steve as they left the building.

“Okay, see you there,” Steve nodded tiredly.

Dragging his feet to the bus stop, Steve looked back at Sam. Steve expected to see Sam either walking away or already in the air. What he didn’t expect, was Sam to be running towards him with his suit fully opened. Before Steve could think or say anything, Sam grabbed him off the ground and flew into the street, narrowly missing a bus that sped by. Steve squeezed his eyes shut the moment his feet left the ground, his breath catching in his throat from the shock.

Steve didn’t dare to open his eyes until he felt his feet hit the concrete, falling heavily onto his knees.

“Sorry!” Sam called, landing a few feet away.

Steve pushed himself up to see Bucky and Natasha rushing over to him. Waving his hands at them, he insisted that he was alright.

Bucky helped him up anyway, holding Steve’s shoulders until he was fully balanced again. Once Bucky and Natasha were convinced that Steve hadn’t broken anything, they sat down at a table that the two of them had already claimed. Natasha yelled at Sam as soon as she sat down, pointing out all the reasons Sam shouldn’t ever fly with Steve again. Steve tried to convince Nat it was okay, but she just continued ignoring and waving him away.

“Steve, we got you a latte,” Bucky grinned, handing a mug to Steve.

Steve smiled appreciatively as he took the warm cup.

“Don’t worry, it’s decaf,” Natasha informed him briefly, going immediately back to arguing with Sam

Steve rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’d hope so,” he laughed under his breath.

When Natasha finally stopped yelling at Sam, Bucky pulled a piece of paper from his backpack underneath the table.

“What’s this?” Sam asked, eyeing the note carefully.

“An eviction notice. I got it about a week ago cause I haven’t been able to pay rent,” Bucky explained as Natasha took the letter.

Sam raised his head to question Bucky. “Why haven’t you just asked Tony for help?”

”I tried,” Bucky sighed. “He told me to, ‘get my shit together.’”

“What are you going to do?” Natasha asked after a minute, peeking over her coffee cup to look questioningly at Bucky.

“I was hoping I could stay with Steve and sam,” he said happily, turning to see Steve and Sam’s reactions.

“Of course you can!” Steve chimed, glancing over at Sam who was staring intently at Bucky.

After a minute, Natasha laughed and leaned back into her chair. “Good luck figuring this one out,” she chuckled.

Sam exhaled dramatically before finally speaking up. “No, absolutely not. You two can get your own apartment, but I am not sharing an apartment with him.” Sam pointed accusingly at Bucky.

“C’mon, Sam, Bucky needs a place to stay!” Steve begged.

Bucky smiled at Steve’s support.

“Well then go live at the Avengers Tower, or literally anywhere else.” Sam folded his arms. “The apartment can only have two people living in it anyway.”

Bucky lifted an eyebrow at Sam, not ready to give up.

“Sam, even our landlord joked about us having a third person since I’m so small,” Steve protested, setting his cup down in frustration.

“Yeah, Steve, he was joking.”

“Listen,” Bucky interrupted, “I’ll just sleep on the couch and you won’t even notice that I’m there.”

“We don’t have a couch!” Sam glared at Bucky.

“We do have a futon folded up in the closet, we can just set that up,” Steve suggested.

Bucky grinned at Sam, eyebrow still raised.

“I still say no. The landlord will kick us out and then none of us will have a place to stay.”

“He’s such a nice guy, I seriously don’t think he’ll care.”

“Okay, tell that to me when we’re all living on the streets!” Sam rolled his eyes at them before turning to look accusingly at Natasha, who was loudly slurping her coffee.

“What did I do?” Natasha gulped.

Sam sighed and turned back to Bucky. “My opinion doesn’t matter, does it?” Sam asked, sinking into his seat.

Bucky glanced at Steve. “No, I don’t think it does.”

Sam sighed again and picked up his coffee. “Damnit! Now my coffee’s cold.”

Artwork by @astriloquiis on Instagram and @astriloquiis-art on Tumblr! Go check them out for other Immaculate art. :) They’re going illustrate some other chapters as well, so keep an eye out for those! 🥺✨

 **:) comments and kudos are always appreciated ~**


	2. Chapter 2

They walked around for a while, going into a couple of shops as they wandered around aimlessly. As they strolled around a small and tidy shop, Natasha offered to help move Bucky’s stuff into Sam and Steve’s apartment.

“Wait, today?” Sam stopped abruptly as Natasha took a candle off a shelf to smell it.

“I mean, I don’t see any point in waiting,” Bucky shrugged.

Sam let out an exasperated breath. “Fine, but this doesn’t mean you can just hang out in our apartment all the time.”

“Good, I bet it’s a mess anyway,” Bucky grunted.

Steve swung around the corner to glare at Bucky. “It’s not a mess!” he whispered angrily, joining Natasha who was still smelling different candles.

Bucky shot one last glower at Sam before turning away to walk aimlessly around the shop.

“Steven!” Natasha gasped. “Smell this one, I think it’s citrus.”

Steve rushed over as Natasha thrust a candle under his nose.

“Oh,” Steve’s eyes widened. “Maybe that will keep Sam and Bucky from killing each other,” Steve said sarcastically.

Natasha grinned. “My thoughts exactly,” she whispered, grabbing a few more candles before leaving to checkout.

“Five candles? Seriously?” Sam questioned, peeking into the paper bag Natasha was swinging at her side.

“Yep. Steve’s going to need them if he’s going to survive the next few days.” Natasha pulled the bag away from Sam and took one of the candles out, shoving it in Sam’s direction.

“Survive? Wait, are they all the same candle?” Sam asked, taking the candle from Natasha and smelling it. 

Sam became quiet very quickly, handing the candle back to Natasha slowly. “It’s alright,” he mumbled.

“And that’s why Steve needs these.” Natasha stated, offering the candle to Bucky who was being suspiciously quiet.

Steve chuckled as he ducked behind Natasha to avoid walking into a pole. Bucky eyed Steve as he took the candle silently, his eyes lifting as the citrus hit him.

Natasha grinned, taking Bucky’s reaction as a good sign. Bucky returned the candle to Natasha as he dropped back to walk by Steve, who was suddenly coughing and struggling to draw in short, shallow breaths.

Bucky quickly realized that they had practically been walking all day without giving Steve a break. “Steve? You brought your inhaler, right?” Bucky asked, giving Steve a concerned look.

Steve wheezed and pat all of his pockets, coming up empty as Bucky and Nat both frowned in concern, slowing their pace.

“What’s going on?” Sam asked, looking over his shoulder at them.

“Steve forgot his inhaler,” Bucky explained, not taking his eyes off Steve.

“I’ll be fine, guys, I don’t-” Steve paused to draw in a ragged gasp. “I don’t need it.” Steve tried to sound reassuring, but his breathing made it clear that he definitely _wasn’t_ fine.

Sam sighed, pulling something out of his pocket. “You really need to get in the habit of taking it with you everywhere.” Sam shook his head and shoved an inhaler into Steve’s hand.

Steve took it appreciatively, removing the cap and inhaling deeply.

“Do you just carry one around with you?” Bucky asked, keeping an eye on Steve as he handed the inhaler back to Sam.

Sam nodded, shoving the inhaler back into his pocket.

Steve’s breathing still heavy and uneven, making Sam looked back at him worriedly. “I think Steve and I should go wait at our apartment. Natasha, you okay going to help Bucky?” he asked, ignoring Steve’s attempts to protest.

“Yeah,” Natasha said, handing Sam the bag of candles.

Steve struggled to step in front of them, finally getting Sam’s attention. “I’m alright! I can... I can make it!” Steve pleaded, his words broken up by coughs and heaving breaths. 

Sam rolled his eyes. “C’mon, we’re going home.”

Steve looked to Bucky for help, but Bucky shook his head. “We won’t be very long, I promise. You need to calm down before you have another god damn asthma attack!”

Steve sighed heavily, glaring up at Sam. “I’m not a child,” he coughed. “You can’t tell me to go home.”

“Whatever.” Sam threw the paper bag over his shoulder and ran up beside Steve, placing his hand on his arm and pushing Steve towards the buildings.

“Let go!” Steve wheezed. 

Bucky waved to Steve, even though he knew Steve couldn’t seem him. 

“Let’s try and be back before they completely destroy each other,” Natasha said, picking up the pace as she walked to the end of the sidewalk.

Bucky didn’t think anything _that_ bad could happen, considering who they were talking about, but he agreed and sped up anyway.

**As always, please tell me what you think!☺️**


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve and Bucky really drank their dumb boy juice this morning...

Realizing he couldn’t get away, Steve gave himself up and followed Sam exhaustedly into the apartment. The moment Steve entered the room, he collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs. Sam set his suit and the bag of candles on the counter, going into the bedroom to set up Bucky’s bed.

“Let me help,” Steve said heavily, holding himself up against the doorway.

“Yeah, right,” Sam replied sarcastically, dragging a folded up futon from the closet. “I got it, Steve. Go sit down before Bucky and Nat get back.”

Steve sighed and fell clumsily onto his bed, handing Sam the extra pillows when he asked for them. Once the bed was made, Steve got up and followed Sam into the kitchen. The dishes from that morning were still sitting in the sink, so Sam got to work cleaning up.

“You up to drying these?” Sam asked, offering a dripping wet plate and towel to Steve.

Steve nodded enthusiastically, glad to finally get to do something productive. The dishes were soon dry and put away in the cupboards, leaving Steve to go back to his chair and wait. Sam wandered aimlessly around the apartment, every now and then picking something up just to set it down again.

“Sam!” Steve shouted, annoyed with Sam’s constant pacing.

Sam sighed and took a seat across from Steve. “Why are we letting him stay here?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “It’s not up for discussion, Sam. Maybe this will finally get you two to get along.”

Sam opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the knock at the door. 

Steve jumped up and rushed to the door, throwing it open to let Bucky and Nat in. “I can take that into the bedroom,” Steve offered, reaching for Bucky’s suitcase that didn’t seem very full. 

Bucky raised an eyebrow. “No, I’m pretty sure you can’t.”

Steve frowned, dropping his hands as Natasha closed the door behind her. “Fine,” Steve sighed. “Follow me.”

Bucky grinned and followed Steve into the bedroom, dropping his suitcase at the foot of the bed and pulling his backpack from his shoulders.

“Is that everything you have?” Steve asked, eyeing the two hardly full bags.

Bucky nodded and climbed onto Sam’s bunk. “Yeah. Thanks for letting me stay here, I know Sam never would have if it weren’t for you.”

Steve bent his head down awkwardly. “Um, Bucky... That isn’t-”

“What are you doing?” Sam interrupted as he came through the door with Natasha.

Bucky glanced down at Sam. “Settling in! What are _you_ doing?”

Sam huffed and shot an expecting look at Steve.

Steve sighed nervously. “Bucky, that’s uh... That’s Sam’s bed. This one is yours,” Steve explained, pointing to the futon on the floor.

“Oh,” Bucky mumbled, climbing back down the ladder. “My bad.”

Sam glared at Bucky one last time before turning back around to leave.

“I think this is going pretty well so far,” Natasha smirked. “Do you mind if I stay for a bit?”

“Of course not!” Steve replied, walking closer to Natasha so that no one else would hear him. “Please don’t leave me alone with them yet,” he whispered.

Nat nodded with a grin, turning on her heel to join Sam back in the kitchen.

Bucky was looking questioningly at Steve from the futon. “What did you say to her?” Bucky asked, standing to walk over to the door.

“Nothing,” Steve said quickly, shaking his head. “Do you like pizza? I think we should order pizza.”

Steve and Bucky joined the others who were collecting ingredients and setting them out on the table.

“Wait, Sam, let’s just order pizza tonight,” Steve said quickly, rushing over to the fridge to stop him from getting more ingredients.

“What? No. We’re going to _make_ pizza,” Sam explained, reaching past Steve to grab cheese.

Steve blinked, stepping out of Sam’s way. “Right, of course you are.”

“Yep, now stay out of our way.”

Steve went back and took a seat next to Bucky, knowing there was no way to stop Sam if he wanted to cook.

A little while later, Steve got tired of sitting still and left the room, returning a minute later with a deck of cards. Without saying anything, Steve set the cards up on the table in front of him to play solitaire. He stared at them blankly once they were laid out, not entirely sure what to do. 

Bucky looked over his shoulder and crinkled his nose. “Do you want help?” Bucky asked, scooting his chair closer to get a better look.

Steve nodded, removing his arm from the table for Bucky to see them. “I don’t actually know how to play solitaire...” he admitted, staring thoughtfully at the cards.

“Oh... Well neither do I,” Bucky frowned.

Sam laughed from the kitchen, apparently watching them as he rolled out the dough. 

Bucky glared at Sam, ignoring Nat’s chuckles from the stove where she was making pizza sauce (having previously frowned upon the store-bought cans of sauce that Sam had gotten out).

“Here, we can google it,” Bucky suggested, getting up to rummage around in his backpack for his computer.

Sitting back down, Bucky opened up his laptop and tapped away. “Okay... Are there any aces?” Bucky asked, peeking over Steve’s shoulder at the cards.

“Where? In the deck?” Steve asked, picking up the leftover stack of cards.

“No, out of the cards that are face-up,” Bucky explained, turning back to the computer. Bucky read the rest of the instructions out loud to Steve, pausing occasionally to make sure Steve understood what he was saying.

“Alright. That sounds easy enough,” Steve grinned, his eyes running along the cards. 

“Here.” Bucky pointed to a seven of hearts.

Steve looked at Bucky, not understanding why he was pointing out that specific card.

Bucky smiled at Steve’s confusion. “Look. Put it on the eight of clubs, see?”

Steve nodded thoughtfully. “Okay, yeah. So I can put this here then, right?” Steve asked, placing a six of hearts over the seven.

“No, Steve. The colors have to alternate... I think.” Bucky took another look at his computer and nodded. “Yeah, you can’t put two cards of the same color together.”

Steve sighed, moving the six back to its place. “Wait, so what about that card that’s face-down?” Steve asked, pointing to the card that had been under the seven.

Bucky squinted his eyes at the screen as he continued typing rapidly. “Oh!” he exclaimed. “We’re supposed to flip that one up.”

Looking from Bucky to the table, Steve flipped the card over and contemplated it. “I don’t think that helps us,” Steve sighed, leaning back in his chair.

Bucky raised an eyebrow at the cards, looking at them curiously. “Dang. I guess that means we start going through the rest of the deck then.”

“Alright,” Steve replied, picking up the deck and going through it three cards at a time.

“What are you doing?” Bucky questioned, looking at the cards that Steve was flipping over.

“What do you mean?” Steve leaned away from the cards. “I’m going through them three at a time, like you told me to earlier.”

Bucky raised an eye questioningly. “Oh yeah. I forgot about that.”

Laughing, Steve continued to flip through the cards, placing them in front of them whenever he or Bucky found a card that worked. 

They continued to go through the cards together, but they were soon stuck and had to reshuffle the deck. A few more quick rounds went by before Steve gave in. “Come on! Is there a trick to this or something?” he shouted, glaring accusingly at the cards.

Bucky stared intently at their failure, trying to figure out what they had done wrong. “I don’t know,” Bucky exhaled, realizing that they had really hit a dead end... Again. “We have to keep trying, though. Giving up would make us weak!”

Steve nodded, straightening in back to make himself taller. “Alright, let’s do it again,” he said, collecting the cards in a stack to hand back to Bucky.

“Guys, pizza’s ready!” Sam shouted, holding up a very nice-looking pizza.

Steve and Bucky sighed in unison, giving the cards one last glare before shoving them aside in a messy pile.

“Solitaire is stupid,” Steve mumbled, taking a plate from Natasha.

“It’s a one-person game and you have two people! How did you not get it?” Nat chuckled, leaning against the counter.

“First of all, rude. It isn’t easy!” Steve argued, shoving pizza into his face.

Sam laughed and patted Steve’s shoulder. “The rules are stupidly simple!”

“Whatever,” Steve grumbled, walking back over to the table where Bucky was already sitting with his pizza.

A while later, as Sam and Natasha were doing the dishes, the phone rang loudly. Steve jumped up from trying to figure out Go Fish with Bucky, and dashed to the phone. 

“Hello?” Steve asked happily into the phone.

Bucky waited expectantly as Steve’s smile widened.

“Nope!” Steve paused and glanced at Nat. “Yeah, Natasha’s here.” He did a little excited spin. “Okay, we’ll be there! See you soon!”

Steve hung up the phone and practically bounced back over to the table. “Tony’s invited us all over for a movie!” he exclaimed delightedly.

Bucky raised an eyebrow. “I’m guessing I wasn’t invited?”

Steve shrugged and took his seat by Bucky “He didn’t necessarily invite you directly, but you’re definitely coming with us!”

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea...” Bucky frowned.

“Yeah, me either,” Sam agreed, handing a pot to Natasha for her to dry.

Steve shot Sam an annoyed look. “It’ll be fine! Just don’t eat all of his popcorn again and we’ll be ok.”

**I promise things will pick up soon... but I’m not sorry that it’s taking so long.** **Always love to hear what you think:)**


	4. Chapter 4

“I’ll wait outside,” Nat said, stepping out of the kitchen. “It’s getting pretty cramped in here.”

Steve stood and pushed his chair in. “Okay, we won’t be long!”

Nat nodded as she left the room, loudly shutting the door behind her.

Looking impatiently at the others, Steve asked, “Do you two need to grab anything before we leave?”

They shook their heads and Bucky looked questioningly at Steve. “Are you going to get a jacket?” Bucky asked, raising an eyebrow at Steve’s thin t-shirt.

“No, I’m good,” Steve stated, looking around the apartment briefly.

“Steve,” Bucky’s eyebrow lifted higher, if that was even possible. “It’s getting late, and if we’re going to walk there, you’re going to get cold pretty quickly.”

Steve sighed. “Okay, _fine_ , I’ll bring a coat.”

Bucky lowered his eyebrow and grinned as Steve left the kitchen. 

Steve returned quickly with a leather jacket that Bucky had given him years ago. It was still pretty big on him, but Steve made it work.

Bucky shrugged his own coat on and followed Sam out of the apartment, Steve right behind him.

Nat was waiting for them when they got out of the elevator, giving them a quick glance before leading the way to the door.

They walked silently down the quiet streets as the sun sunk behind the horizon. The silence was soon broken when Steve pointed a finger excitedly towards the other side of the street. “Hey! That’s T’challa and Shuri!” Steve shouted, waving his hands in the air frantically.

Bucky looked up and grinned. T’challa and Shuri had always been nice to him ever since they’d met. “Maybe they’re going to Tony’s too!” 

“Let’s go see,” Sam suggested, heading to the sidewalk. 

The others didn’t follow him, though, and he only noticed when there were no longer footsteps following behind him. “I thought we were going to take the sidewalk!” Sam yelled as he turned around to see them jaywalking. He sighed, running to join them across the street.

Having finally noticed them, Shuri jumped up and dashed over to give them all hugs. 

“Are you guys going to Tony’s?” T’challa asked, giving Steve a quick hug.

Nat nodded. “Yeah, mind if we walk with you?” 

“Of course not!” Shuri answered cheerfully.

They continued strolling down the street as they conversed about everything that had happened in their lives since they’d last seen each other. In the middle of a conversation with T’challa, Steve noticed someone heading towards them; arms full of grocery bags.

“Wait,” Steve said, holding up his hand. “Is that Scott?”

Nat squinted at the man approaching them. “Who?”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Ant-man?”

“Oh yeah!” Nat nodded and moved out of Steve’s way as he sped up to get Scott’s attention.

“Hey, Steve!” Scott said, looking curiously at the group in front of him. “What are you all up to?”

“We’re going to Tony’s for movie night! Are you coming?” Steve asked as the rest of the squad stopped behind him.

“No... I don’t think I was invited.” Scott frowned.

“Seriously, Tony?” Steve mumbled under his breath. “Never mind! You can come with us, you’ll be our plus one,” he suggested, looking to Sam briefly.

“Yeah, I’m sure Tony won’t mind if we show up with Bucky and Scott,” Sam said sarcastically, rolling his eyes in annoyance. “That makes it a plus _two_.”

“Scott can be our plus one!” Shuri shouted, running over to join Scott.

Scott raised an eyebrow at Shuri questioningly. “Who are you?”

Shuri raised her hands in frustration. “The one who’s going to get you into Tony’s!” she yells. “You people have no respect.”

Steve grinned. “Alright! Let’s go then.”

“Oh, I also have a ton of ice cream and cereal,” Scott said as they skipped down the street.

A jumble of excited exclamations rang through the group and they collectively quickened their pace. Now they were more determined to get to their destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Don’t worry, the next chapter won’t be this short. Cause I know y’all were worried. 😳 ******
> 
> Kudos? Comments?🥰


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a very long chapter, but I promise it’s worth it! :)

Strolling down the Avengers Tower driveway, the group noticed Peter waving his hands frantically from the top of the steps wearing a spider-man onesie.

"Where's Tony?" Sam asked as they joined him on the stairs. 

"He's inside with Clint and Bruce," Peter explained excitedly, showing them through the door.

"Cool pajamas," Nat said as she passed Peter.

"Thank you!" Peter grinned proudly. "And you brought Mr. Barnes and Ant-man! Tony's going to be thrilled!"

But Tony was anything _but_ thrilled.

"Oh. I see you brought robot man and bug boy with you," Tony sighed as he, Rhodey, Clint, and Bruce joined them in the living room; all wearing sweatpants and hoodies.

"See! Told you we shouldn't have let them come!" Sam exclaimed.

Steve rolled his eyes, giving Bucky and Scott short glances. "Bucky said he won't eat all your popcorn this time and Scott brought some ice cream, so maybe you should reconsider before you kick them out."

Tony looked taken aback. "I wasn't going to kick them out, I just planned on complaining about their presence all night. But maybe I can agree to complain a little less if buggy over here has ice cream," he said, raising an eyebrow at Scott's many grocery bags.

Scott nodded nervously. "Yeah, I'm happy to share, but I should probably get this in the freezer before it-"

Scott was cut off when Clint rushed over and took a couple of bags from Scott. "Let's go then!" Clint shouted, turning on his heel to leave.

Scott made a face before following Clint into the kitchen.

"Were we supposed to bring pajamas?" Steve asked Tony, taking a seat on the couch.

"Um, yeah. Please don't tell me you all forgot," Tony looked questioningly around the room, realizing that none of them, except Shuri, seemed to be carrying anything with them.

"Well, we didn't know that... You didn't tell us to bring them," Steve replied.

"What did you all think I meant when I said slumber party?"

Shuri cut in, "I brought mine! T'challa said I wouldn't need them, though." She shot an annoyed glare at her brother.

"Well, seems like you're the only one here who understands," Tony said, throwing his hands into the air as he walked down the hall into another room.

A minute later, Tony returned with a large shopping bag and set it on the coffee table. "Peter and I were going to wait and give these to you for Christmas, but-"

Peter dashed over and jumped onto the table. "We got you all personalized pajamas!" he interrupted loudly.

Tony let Peter take the bag and hand them out, practically bouncing from person to person. When everyone had their onesies, Peter threw the bag by the TV with the last of the pajamas.

"Bedrooms and bathrooms are down the hall," Peter grinned, skipping into the kitchen with pajamas for Scott and Clint.

Everyone changed quickly and went into the kitchen, but Steve hung behind to fiddle with his sleeves. His onesie was a bit big, even though it was a size an extra small. The sleeves hung off his hands, and the fabric sagged between his legs and at his feet. Peter frowned thoughtfully when he saw him, which made Steve feel even more awkward. 

"I was going to get you one from the kid's section," Peter explained. "But I thought they would have been too small..."

Steve smiled kindly as he rolled up the sleeves. "This is all right, thanks."

“You’re welcome!” Peter called, turning on his heal and skipping off to join the others.

Bucky grinned widely when he came out of the bathroom and joined Steve by the couch. "Cute pajamas," he smirked, giving Steve's oversized puppy pajamas a good look. 

Steve rolled his eyes, laughing when he noticed Bucky’s pink floral patterned onesie. He grabbed Bucky’s arm to get a closer look, feeling the coldness of Bucky’s metal arm beneath the fabric. "Wow, these are so you!" he chuckled.

"Shut up." Bucky held back a grin. "Peter and I just don't know each other that well."

Steve smirked and shook his head. "Nah, Peter obviously knows you pretty well."

“He could of at least gotten me ones with stars or something. Like, there’s a star right on my arm,” Bucky whined dramatically, yanking the left sleeve of his pajamas off to reveal his metal arm as he threw the fabric to the floor.

“Aw, come on, Bucky. You didn’t have to ruin them!” Steve pouted.

“Ruined? They’re way better this way!” Bucky protested, running his other hand along the metal. Steve rolled his eyes and finished rolling up his other sleeve, grinning as he and Bucky met the others in the kitchen.

“It’s so obvious, that it’s just frustrating at this point,” Natasha was saying. Tony shook his head at her after seeing Steve and Bucky enter the room.

“Tell me about it,” Sam sighed, not noticing Tony’s frantic movements. “And I have to share an apartment with them now...” Sam’s voice trailed off as he looked over his shoulder to see what Tony was being so wild about.

Bucky glanced down questioningly at Steve, who shrugged nervously. “What’s going on?” Bucky asked, shifting his gaze to settle on Tony.

“Nothing! We were just...” Tony looked quickly to the others for help.

“Sam was just telling us that you’re moving in with him and Steve!” Shuri said confidently.

Bucky looked around questioningly, but decided not to push it. Especially since Steve didn’t seem too worried about what they had been saying about them.

Steve gave Bucky’s remaining sleeve a small tug before joining the others awkwardly around the counter. Bucky followed Steve nervously, the tension in the room finally breaking when Peter noticed Bucky’s missing sleeve. “Hey, Mr. Barnes, I meant to take care of that sleeve for you, but thought you would prefer to do it yourself,” Peter blurted out, jumping down from his stool and rushing around the table.

Bucky nodded slowly. “I do prefer doing it myself, so thank-”

Startling him, Peter grabbed Bucky’s metal arm and stared at it intently. “This is so cool!” he gasped, poking and prodding at his limb.

“I can feel that,” Bucky whispered angrily. He didn’t want to be rude and just pull his arm away, so he glanced questioningly at Steve for help.

“That’s awesome...” Peter mumbled thoughtfully, continuing to stab at the metal.

Seeing that Steve wasn’t going to give him any help, Bucky pulled his arm away, trying to be gentle. “I’m starting to think that I should have left the sleeve on.”

“Sorry, Mr. Barnes. I didn’t mean to hurt you,” Peter apologized quickly, looking at his own hands accusingly.

“What? No! You didn’t hurt me!”

Sam laughed from the other side of the counter wearing a bird patterned onesie. “Did your metal arm get poked too hard by a teenager?” Sam mocked, making a face at Bucky.

Bucky glared at him, then returned his attention to Peter. “I just don’t like it when people play with my arm, okay?”

Peter nodded quickly. “That’s valid, Mr. Barnes.” He gave the arm one last fascinated stare before rushing back to his seat.

“That’s not what you said when _Steve_ was playing with your arm,” Shuri smirked, giving them a knowing look.

“What? Steve was just looking at my pajamas.” Bucky raised his eyebrow in confusion. “How did you even see that?”

Shuri grinned, folding her arms and shrugging in her green tie-dye pajamas. “I hadn’t left the living room yet, but you two were too caught up in each other to notice.”

Steve and Bucky exchanged a bemused glance, which was interrupted by a sudden shattering of glass that sounded through the building followed by a thud.

“THOR!” Tony cried, sprinting out of the kitchen towards the dining room with Rhodey close behind him.

Everyone froze for a moment in shock before rushing down the hall after Tony. They found him standing amidst shards of glass, holding up a broken chair leg and shouting at a completely unfazed Thor. “I thought we had agreed to use the door this time!” Tony was yelling, ignoring Rhodey’s comments from beside him.

“That is true,” Thor said as he brushed glass from his pants. “Although, if I had used the door, I would have had to knock. And if I had knocked, you would have had to take the time to walk to the door and let me in. Therefore, flying through the window was much more efficient, and not nearly as much time was wasted.”

Tony dropped the broken wood and brought his hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples tiredly. “I can’t believe this. Thor, we’re wasting so much more time now than we would have if you had just used the door!”

Thor nodded thoughtfully. “This is not my fault. It is entirely upon you,” he stated, walking towards the crowded doorway past Rhodey.

“Fine. I’ll just deal with this later... By myself.” Tony sighed before following Rhodey and the others into the living room, ignoring Thor’s banter about God knows what.

Just as they entered the living room, Pepper came sprinting down the steps and stopping to stare at the group.”

“Oh! Hey, Pepper,” Tony said nervously.

“What was that sound?” Pepper shouted as she looked around the room.

Before Tony could say anything, Thor raised his hand and shouted, “I FLEW THROUGH THE WINDOW!”

Pepper turned her stare on Thor with a tired expression. “Of course you did.” She sighed and whipped around to face Tony. “You guys better clean up all the damage tomorrow.”

Tony nodded quickly before giving the others an annoyed glare.

Sighing, Pepper glanced at Rhodey before she turned back to the stairs to leave. “Try to keep them from burning the place down?”

“Will do, Ma’am,” Rhodey replied, giving Tony a tired smirk.

Tony let out a heavy breath and faced the group behind him. “Whatever. All we need to do now is get Strange here,” he said as he pulled out his phone.

“You still haven’t called him?” Bruce asked as he sat beside Natasha on the couch.

Tony dialed a number and brought the phone up to his ear. “Nope! Get ready JARVIS.” Everyone’s attention was on Tony as he waited expectantly, face becoming serious when Dr. Strange finally answered. 

“I know this is probably a bad time, but-“ Tony held his phone in the air and JARVIS played a series of screams and breaking noises. “It’s kind of an emergency!”

Tony grinned, making it clear Dr. Strange had fallen for it and was on the way. “Hurry-” Tony cut himself off and hung up promptly.

The next few minutes were spent arguing about what they were going watch, but Peter soon settled the issue by deciding that they would watch the original Star Wars trilogy. Peter was fiddling with the remote to find the movies when they heard a thud in the kitchen. Tony got up to see what it was, but Dr. Strange and Wong were quickly rushing into the room.

“What’s the emergency?” Strange asked, looking around the room thoughtfully.

“Why can’t you people use doors?” Tony mumbled, too quiet for the others to hear.

“We’re having a slumber party, Mr. Strange, Sir!” Peter exclaimed as he jumped up from the couch. 

Wong looked surprised as he lowered his hands and relaxed. 

Sighing, Strange too lowered his hands, the magic fading in front of him. “Then why are we here?”

“For the slumber party, I’d assume,” Wong said coolly as he strolled over to the couch.

“We aren’t staying, we have more important things to attend to.” Dr. Strange folded his arms and glared at Tony.

“No, we don’t,” Wong stated as he sat beside Peter on the couch. 

Strange sighed heavily, shooting one last half-hearted glare at Tony before giving in. “Fine,” he muttered as he moved to sit on the couch as well, deliberately taking up as much cushion space as possible with his cloak.

“Don’t settle in yet,” Tony called, stopping the others from following Strange. “We need to get snacks!”

They all cheered and rose to follow Tony into the kitchen, all except Strange who stayed in his seat. Entering the kitchen, Tony grabbed two large bowls of popcorn that he had made early and handed them to Rhodey. “Try to keep these away from Barnes,” he said, taking the last one off the counter and leaving to bring them into the living room. 

As Tony took care of that, Peter and Shuri took care of the ice cream. Peter pulled a tall stack of bowls from the cupboards and began scooping large portions of the ice cream into each bowl, leaving Shuri to dig through the drawers collecting any candy she could find. 

“I’ve got gummy bears, M&M’s, chocolate chips...” Shuri continued listing off the many candies she had gathered, tearing them open as she went.

Peter finished scooping the ice cream (after going through several pints) and grabbed a bag of marshmallows. “Should we let people choose what candies they get?” Peter whispered, leaning inconspicuously closer to Shuri so that no one else would hear.

“No, let’s make it random!” Shuri whispered back, taking up a bottle of chocolate sauce and handing another one to Peter as he set the marshmallows down. “But chocolate sauce first!”

Peter nodded enthusiastically, snatching the bottle from Shuri and popping off the lid. They squeezed the chocolate sauce messily over the ice creams, getting the sauce all over the counter where there weren’t bowls. 

Once they were happy with the amount of chocolate covering the bowls, Peter and Shuri threw an assortment of candies over the ice cream. They looked over their creations proudly, but then Shuri frowned. “They need something more...” she trailed off, rummaging through Scott’s grocery bags that sat on the floor by the fridge. “Here we go!” she shouted, pulling a thing of Fruit Loops from the bag. 

Peter grinned as Shuri opened the box and poured the cereal over the bowls, finishing by stabbing spoons through the layer of candy and cereal. “Perfect!” They said in unison, stepping back to admire their disaster.

The two of them began handing out the bowls to their silent audience but stopped when Tony came back into the room. “What are those?” Tony asked, staring at the substance in the bowls they were holding. 

Peter grinned proudly. “Sundaes!” he cried, shoving one in Tony’s direction.

Tony sighed and took the bowl hesitantly. “Okay... Well, I guess we should go watch the movie then.”

Steve and Bucky exchanged a nervous look before following the others out the door.

When they all joined Rhodey and Strange in the living room, Strange was completely spread out across the cushions and Rhodey was shouting at him to sit up. Natasha rushed over and whispered something in Strange’s ear, but he looked back with a more than confused look on his face. Even though he clearly didn’t understand what Nat had said, Strange sat up and looked back at the others. His gaze landed on Steve and Bucky, but only for a moment as Natasha took her seat with Bruce, Shuri, and Thor close behind her.

Upon seeing that the couch space was being taken up very quickly, the rest of them ran over to claim their spots. Steve hung back in the doorway and watched in confusion as everyone scrambled to grab a seat. Bucky started to follow them as the seats filled up but turned back when he noticed Steve wasn’t behind him.

“Hey,” Natasha suddenly piped up, leaning over the back of the couch to look at Steve and Bucky with a smirk. “It looks like that’s your guys’ spot.” She pointed at a loveseat on the opposite end of the couch with a wink.

“Alright,” Bucky said blankly, motioning for Steve to follow him. They curled up with their ice cream on each side of the seat, which was still pretty close because of it being a fairly small seat. Everyone but Strange stared at the two of them with twinkling eyes as if they were waiting for something.

“What’s going on?” Steve asked, resting his bowl on his knee.

“You two are so cute over there on your loveseat,” Shuri cooed.

Bucky gave her a questioning look. “We didn’t exactly have a choice,” he stated. “When are we going to start the movie?”

Peter looked away and pointed the remote dramatically at the screen. “JARVIS? Dim the lights.” The lights went dark and Peter clicked the button.

The movie played and the only sounds were the clinks of spoons and the occasional sarcastic comments from Strange. Half-way through the first movie, Steve had already fallen asleep with his head resting on Bucky’s chest. Bucky naturally wrapped an arm around Steve’s shoulder, but it didn’t go unnoticed. 

“Aww!” Peter beamed over an intense battle scene, making Bucky stare questioningly at the TV.

“What are you aw-ing at?” Bucky asked after a minute, turning to look at Peter who was gazing at him as Nat chuckled loudly.

Bucky glared at her defensively. “I don’t know what’s going on, but please try to be quiet so you don’t wake Steve up.” Bucky shook his head and returned his focus to the screen.

When the movie ended, the room burst into shouts about the movie that they must have been holding in for some time. A comment from Strange got them into a loud argument about Darth Vader’s helmet. Rising from his seat, Bruce whined incoherently about something to do with Luke Skywalker, while glaring at the now blank screen. 

Bucky wanted to scream, but since Steve was still asleep, he tried his best not to. “Shut up!” he hissed, trying his hardest not to wake Steve while being loud enough to get their attention.

The room fell silent and Bucky sighed heavily back into the seat. Steve shifted in his arms and Bucky froze, letting out a relieved sigh when Steve finally relaxed back onto his chest. Bucky smiled down at him when Steve’s breathing calmed and he continued to sleep peacefully. Steve’s eyelids looked tired even as he slept, the dark circles under his eyes becoming more pronounced as Peter had JARVIS turn up the lights.

“I don’t think he’s slept this well in months,” Sam whispered as he stood to stretch. It was then that Bucky realized everyone was watching him.

Nat grinned. “I wonder why that is...”

“Maybe it’s cause he has to live with you,” Bucky mumbled aggressively at Sam.

Sam rolled his eyes and took Steve and Bucky’s empty ice cream bowls from the coffee table. “God, you really are an idiot.”

Bucky made a face at Sam’s comment, but decidedly ignored it and went back to watching Steve. Rhodey helped Sam bring the bowls into the kitchen, while the others stood to stretch for a minute before watching the next movie. 

Once everyone had settled in again, and Wong stopped arguing with Strange about the force, JARVIS turned down the lights and Peter played the next movie. 

Bucky was so deeply intrigued by the movie, that he barely noticed he was running his flesh hand along Steve’s arm whenever he shifted slightly or his breathing changed. Apparently no one else noticed either (or at least no one said anything about it, and the movie ended without a single unnecessary remark out of anyone; aside from Strange or Wong’s quiet arguments about anything they could find arguable.

Peter quickly switched to the last movie, which Bucky didn’t find nearly as interesting as the first two. He already knew about the force and Darth Vader, so he didn’t see the point in continuing (especially since Yoda dies and there’s another Death Star for them to deal with). Either way, he had planned to stay awake through the whole thing to make sure no one disturbed Steve; but he was too tired and not nearly entertained enough by the movie, so he eventually dozed off with his arms wrapped protectively around Steve. 

The third movie finished and the lights came back on, but not even the sound of everyone standing around and aw-ing at them could’ve woken the two men up. Nat snapped a couple of pictures for their photo album, and Peter found a warm blanket for them before the rest of them left. 

Finally, after a few minutes of them all tiredly chattering about the love-birds, Tony convinced them to retreat to their rooms for the night. They exchanged half-hearted, exhausted goodnights, and dragged themselves down the hall to find their rooms. Tony gave Steve and Bucky one last smirk by the door before he too wandered off to his room.

Bucky woke up with a start when he felt something move on his chest. He almost jumped up to push whatever it was away, but then he remembered that it was just Steve. A blanket was thrown over them, and Steve was struggling to sit up without taking it with him. “Hey,” Bucky whispered, propping himself up slightly. 

Steve turned around suddenly in surprise. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” he apologized quietly and settled back into the couch at Bucky’s side. “I just needed to use the bathroom.”

Bucky nodded and pulled the blanket off the two of them, sitting up to straighten his back. “Thanks,” Steve smiled appreciatively and stood up to stretch before tiptoeing down the hall. 

Bucky sat and waited, looking out the window over the city thoughtfully. The sun hadn’t even started to come out yet, but there were still enough street and building lights on for Bucky to kind of see down the empty streets.

“Are you going to stay out here?” Steve asked quietly as he sat down, startling Bucky who hadn’t even heard him enter the room again.

Bucky quickly recovered and shifted in his seat away from the window. “Yeah, do you want help finding your room?”

Steve shook his head. “Oh, no. I think I’ll stay here. I don’t want to accidentally wake anyone up by walking around too much.”

Bucky nodded and leaned into the corner of the cushions, leaving his arms open expectantly.

Steve’s lips lifted into a soft smile as he moved closer to Bucky, tucking his legs beneath him and resting on the side of Bucky’s chest. “How were the rest of the movies?” Steve asked a Bucky pulled the blanket over them.

“The first two were alright, but Yoda died in the third one so I just fell asleep.”

Steve chuckled a bit as he tucked his arms around Bucky to keep warm. “Spoiler alert! Who’s Yoda?”

“You didn’t even make it to Yoda?” Bucky sounded personally offended. 

Steve shook his head lightly and tilted his head up. 

“Oh, I don’t think he was in the first movie, never mind.” Bucky thought for a minute before continuing. “We should watch them by ourselves some time, but only the first two.”

“Alright...” Steve yawned and relaxed his forehead into Bucky’s chest again. “Did I miss anything fun between the movies?”

Bucky pulled the blanket closer, knowing that Steve would most-likely fall asleep at any second. “Not really... They started yelling after the first one, but I got them to shut up. Oh, and Nat and Sam were being weird as always. .” Bucky shook his head and sighed. “I really don’t get what their deal is sometimes.”

“Just ignore them, Buck. It’s not worth it to try and figure them out.” Steve’s voice was soft and reassuring, but it was also clear that he was drifting away.

Bucky nodded and leaned his cheek against the cushions. “Yeah, I know.”

The room fell quiet and Bucky decided that Steve must’ve fallen asleep, but then Steve shifted again and said, “Bucky?”

“Yeah?” Bucky whispered back.

“Goodnight.” Steve yawned and curled his body into Bucky’s arms, ignoring the chill from his metal arm that brushed against his side.

Bucky chuckled lightly. “Goodnight, Steve.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No homo though... 🤧
> 
> As always, thanks sm for reading!! More coming soon~


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is basically just a filler chapter to get to the next Stucky moment. It’s still got some quality moments though, I think. :)

Dr. Strange awoke to the sound of someone scampering about in the hall. He stretched and threw the covers off of his bed, his cape flying to his back as soon as he was standing and almost knocking him over. He had fallen asleep fully clothed (having not even been offered a unique pajama set), so he went straight to see what the noise was about.

“C’mon, Nat! You have to see Mr. Barnes and Mr. Rogers!” Peter whispered urgently as he pulled an exhausted Natasha down the hall.

Wong had just opened his door to lookout as well, but he didn’t even hesitate before following after them. Strange stood there watching as more and more people wandered from their rooms and down the hall. Eventually, he too left his room to see what all the fuss was about.

When Strange entered the room, the first thing he noticed was Natasha taking way too many pictures of something on the couch. It smelt like burnt toast, but Strange didn’t think that to be too unusual (especially considering the situation he had just walked in on). Tony was grinning down at whatever Natasha was taking pictures of, and the others were all standing around by the couch, and (as Strange had put it) giggling like a bunch of teenage girls.

After giving himself a moment to take in the scene before him, Strange wandered over cautiously to join the others. “Good morning, Mr. Strange, Sir,” Peter whispered excitedly.

“Morning, Parker. What’s going on?” Strange nervously glanced down at Steve and Bucky, who were fast asleep in each other’s arms.

Peter grinned. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Strange shrugged: he wasn’t completely sure what all the fuss was about, but he decided it was best not to push it. Nothing the others were saying quite made sense to Strange. He heard Wong say something about how he wished Steve and Bucky would just ‘get together already’, which confused Strange even more. Weren’t they already together? After contemplating the situation for a moment, Strange decided it was best to just leave it alone and not ask any questions.

“Does anyone else smell that?” T’challa asked after a minute, leaning to look past Scott towards the kitchen door. 

“My toast!” Tony yelled, finally breaking from the quiet whispers that they had been using all morning.

“Damnit, Tony! You woke ‘em up.” Bruce frowned after Tony dashing off to the kitchen, and wandered over to take a seat by Strange.

Dr. Strange gave Bruce a questioning look. “What’s wrong with them waking up?”

Bruce eyed him curiously for a minute before responding. “We don’t want to be too suspicious.”

Strange sighed. “Does no one else know they’re together?” he wondered. “Wait. Do I even know for sure that they’re together?”

Returning his attention to the others, Strange saw Natasha quickly hiding her phone in her pocket and motioning to the others to spread out and act natural. If she were trying to hide that they had been hovering over Steve and Bucky, she was too late. 

Steve had crawled off Buck’s chest and straightened himself enough to look curiously around the room, and Bucky seemed to be viewing the situation half-asleep as he lifted himself upon the cushions. 

“What’s going on?” Steve asked heavily.

“Exactly what I’d like to know,” Strange mumbled as he sunk further into the couch.

Natasha turned around from where she had been staring out the window, clearly trying to act casual. “What do you mean?” she questioned innocently.

“Fine, keep your secrets.” Steve sunk back into his seat, too tired to argue with her.

At this point, Bucky was fully awake and his eyes seemed to be incapable of blinking. “Is something burning?” he asked cautiously, stiffening in his seat. 

“Oh, yeah. That’s just Tony’s toast,” Peter explained, chuckling at his own words.

Strange raised an eyebrow and spoke up. “Why are you laughing?”

Peter snorted. “Tony’s toast!”

Shuri, Scott, and Clint laughed at that, but Strange still didn’t understand. He sighed, not in the mood to even try and get it.

Tony came rushing back a minute later, whipping his hands on a kitchen towel. “Good morning, boys!” he called to Steve and Bucky, throwing himself over the back of the couch and half-landing on Bruce in the process.

“Hey! Watch it!” Bruce yelled as he shoved Tony to the side. 

Tony whined and sat up, resting on his knees to eye Steve and Bucky. “So, how are the two love-birds this morning?” 

Steve raised an eyebrow, still squished against Bucky’s side in the seat. “Just cause we slept together, doesn’t mean we’re in love, Tony.”

Tony tossed his head back and laughed. “Do you even know what you just said?” He turned to Natasha and Sam were chuckling in the background. “These two are going to kill me!”

Nat rolled her eyes, trying to hold back her laughter. Whipping back around, Tony’s eyes searched Steve and Bucky’s. “If you two don’t figure all this out.” He waved his hand at the two of them. “I’m going to quit the Avengers.” Tony folded his arms and tilted his head up in the other direction. 

Bucky shook his head and slipped out of the blanket that still covered him and Steve. “Whatever, I have to use the bathroom,” he said, stretching as he walked towards the hall.

Clint (who had been completely quiet till now) dramatically jumped up to where he was sitting on the couch. “Tony, you upset him!

Turning back around briefly, Bucky shot them all annoyed glares. “I’m pretty sure you’re the ones who need to figure something out.” 

When Bucky came back from the bathroom, Scott offered to make them all omelettes with some of the veggies he had gotten from the store. The others eagerly accepted his offer and hustled into the kitchen. 

“Actually, I think Wong and I should get going,” Strange said decidedly.

Wong looked up at him disapprovingly. “Really? Cause I don’t.”

Strange ignored him and stepped towards the door. “Thanks for having us, Tony.”

“Anytime!” Tony grinned. “We should do this more often!”

Strange nodded forcefully, muttering under his breath, “Or perhaps not.”

Wong sighed and followed Strange out, clearly sad to leave.

“Goodbye, Mr. Wong!” Peter called after him, but there was no response. “Ah, oh well.” Peter sat on a stool and leaned over onto the counter to relax.

When Strange and Wong had left, Scott finally searched the cabinets and drawers for the things he needed. Once he had gathered everything he needed, Scott moved to search the fridge. He wasn’t really paying attention to the others around him until he realized that his veggies were no longer in the fridge.

“Hey, does anyone know what happened to...” Scott’s voice trailed off before he could finish his sentence. Thor had apparently woken up while he wasn’t paying attention, and had even had the time to begin devouring Scott’s vegetables. The worst part, Scott decided, was that no one had tried to stop him.

“What are you looking for?” Thor beamed, his mouth stuffed full of greens.

“Uh...” Scott paused, trying to find the right way to say it. “I was looking for my veggies to put in the omelettes, but it looks like you found them.” Scott glanced pointedly at Thor’s handful of half-eaten foods.

Thor froze mid-bite, his eyes wide in surprise. “These veggies?” he asked through the mouthful of cucumber. 

Scott nodded slowly.

“My apologies!” Thor spat, taking the cucumber away from his mouth and offering the vegetables back to Scott. “I didn’t know they were yours! I thought they were Tony’s!”

Scott shook his head. “It’s fine, Thor,” he said genuinely. It really was fine, Scott hardly cared. The only problem was, he didn’t know what he was going to do once he left. Maybe Tony would let him borrow a bit of money.

“Nonsense! Please, take the remains before I devour them.” Thor shoved the half-eaten veggie remains at Scott, insisting that he take them back.

“No thanks, Thor. I really don’t need it. You can go ahead and finish them.”

Thor finally nodded and went back to eating the vegetables, leaving Scott to search around for something else to put in the omelettes. He could just make scrambled eggs, of course; but something about the idea of making omelettes for the Avengers was too amusing to let go of.

A minute later, Scott turned around to find Pepper stepping through the door and eyeing Tony expectantly. Tony sighed, giving Scott a half-apologetic look. 

“Sorry, guys, I think you should all get going,” Tony said, receiving an approving nod from Pepper.

Clint looked up from his game of cards with Nat. “What about breakfast?” he asked glumly.

“Here.” Tony reached into his pocket and slid a credit card across the table. “Take this and go down to the coffee shop or something.”

Natasha grabbed the card and slipped it into her pocket. “Thanks, Tony! We’ll be sure not to abuse this!” She leaped off her seat to avoid Clint’s grabs at her arm to get to the credit card.

“Good, cause as soon as I notice it’s being overly used at more than just getting food, I’ll cancel the card immediately,” Tony explained. “Oh, and you guys might want to get dressed before going out.”

Everyone agreed and rushed out of the room. Scott took a minute to return everything to its original place before following after them into his room. He threw on the t-shirt and jeans that he had been wearing the day before and ran a comb threw his hair a couple of times. Tony had told them to leave their pajamas there for whatever reason; and even though Scott wanted to take his with him, he folded them up and left them on the bed.

The others had already gathered by the front door and were saying quick “goodbye’s” to Tony as they left. Tony seemed reluctant to let Peter go with them, but he let him go nonetheless. Scott ran up behind them, said thanks to Tony (which got a sarcastic remark about how Tony hadn’t invited him), and wiggled himself into the group as they scampered down the driveway.

The morning air was brisk, and Scott immediately noticed Bucky wrapping a jacket around Steve. Nat was leading the way down the street confidently, ignoring Clint’s ranting about why he should get to carry the credit card.

“Hey, Nat!” Scott piped up, making his way to the front of the group. 

Natasha whipped around at the sound of her name. “Did you just call me Nat?” she shot back.

Scott fell into step next to her nervously. “Uh, yeah. Sorry, I thought that’s what everyone called you...”

Natasha glared dramatically, but then laughed. “It is! Well, most of the time. I just wanted to make you nervous.” She caught her breath before continuing. “Anyway, what did you want?”

“Oh. I was just wondering, could I maybe use that credit card to get some groceries after we get breakfast?”

Natasha eyed him curiously. “Why?”

“Well... I’m kind of broke.” His words hung in the air for a moment, before he quickly added, “It’s fine, I don’t need help! It’s just, everyone ate all the food I brought so I don’t really have much else.”

Nat nodded sympathetically. “Alright, we’ll all go with you!” 

Scott hadn’t expected that, but he knew he should have the moment Natasha said it. “No, it’s really ok.” Scott shook his head insistently. “I’ll just run there real quick while everyone has their coffee, and you won’t even notice I’m gone.”

“Nope! We’re coming with you.” She waved her hand in his direction, ignoring his protests. “That’s final!”

Scott gave up and sunk back to join the crowd behind him. Well, at least he’d be getting his groceries... right?”

They made it to the coffee shop without any problems. Unless, of course, you consider Thor throwing his hammer out of boredom and scaring the people around them a problem. The large group looked comical. Even though all of them were wearing normal clothes (all except Thor); a group of trained assassins, SHIELD agents, two “normal” looking dudes, a king, and a God walking around with three “children”, still looked pretty out of place. 

“Drive-thru?” Natasha asked as they reached the tiny cafe.

They all nodded and followed nat down the road. Peter jumped to the front and pretended to be holding a steering wheel. He made a loud honking sound when the car in front of them didn’t move, which made Natasha shove him back into the group. 

When they finally made it to the window, Natasha took everyone’s order and repeated them to the poor lady rapidly writing on a notepad. Once she had everyone’s order, the lady at the window didn’t even try to run through everything they had said. She glanced once over her notebook and Natasha paid without really paying attention to the cost of it all. The waitress then told them it would take about thirty minutes before everything was done, and asked them to wait outside by the front door. They did so appreciatively as Peter pulled out a piece of chalk from his pocket.

“Hop-scotch?” Peter asked Shuri, holding the chalk out proudly.

Shuri nodded, and they both ran off to the sidewalk. The rest of them waited impatiently, quickly becoming annoyed at Thor’s constant questioning. “How long has it been, now?” he would ask every couple of minutes.

Luckily, before anyone got too annoyed by Thor’s complaining, two waiters came out with a large paper bag and a 3 cup holders of drinks. Natasha, Bruce, and Clint took the drinks, while Scott grabbed the bag. They thanked the waiters and scurried down the street towards the park. An empty picnic table was waiting for them under the shade of an evergreen tree, and Nat quickly started handing out the drinks.

“Alright, we’ve got hot chocolates for Steve, Peter, and Shuri?” 

The three in question popped up and rushed over to take their cups. Nat then handed black coffees to Scott, Clint, Bruce, and Sam. Several Caramel frappes went to Thor, and Bucky and T’challa got a lattes. 

“Wait, where’s Rhodey?” Sam asked as he slurped his coffee.

Natasha blinked. “Oh, he stayed back with Tony to help clean up.”

Sam nodded with a slight frown, but didn’t say anything more.

“Oh! We got pastries!” Nat shouted, rushing over to take the bag from Scott.

She divided the pastries amongst the group and then took a seat at the table, munching on a chocolate croissant. Scott stepped away from the others to stand by the tree where Steve and Bucky had sat down. They were both leaning against the bottom of the tree, and Steve had his head resting on Bucky’s shoulder. The sun was out and it was getting warmer, but the occasional gust of wind coming off the water was crisp and sent chills down Scott’s spine now and then.

Steve had an over-sized leather jacket on and pulled it around him whenever the breeze picked up. Everyone seemed calm, which was strange for this group of friends. Granted, they were all stuffing their faces with coffee and pastries, but still. They weren’t all acting like they were constantly preparing to kill someone. 

Once the pastries were gone and their mugs had been drained, Scott decided to bring up the shopping trip.

“Hey, guys. So I need to go shopping for some things, and Natasha said you’d all come with me, but I really don’t think that’s necessary. If anyone wants to head off and do something else, that might be best.” He tried to keep his voice from sounding too pushy, but he also knew that the sound of his voice didn’t really matter at this point.

They all insisted upon going with him, so Scott didn’t even try to convince them otherwise. After finding a trash can for their cups, they wandered back up the street to the grocery store. Scott told himself that nothing too bad would happen; and either way, he didn’t plan on necessarily walking around the store with them. 

The thing with the Avengers, though, is that when they're together in a group, they can’t seem to let anyone stray too far away. This was exactly why Scott never found the chance to break away long enough to actually get his shopping done quickly.

Scott was being closely followed by all his friends, which made it extremely hard for him to find anything. Every other person who they passed in the store was quick to turn around and rush away; and everything went downhill when Peter got bored of walking around. Scott noticed Peter and Thor talking behind his back as he searched the isle for oatmeal, but didn’t think too much of it at the time. 

A few minutes later, Scott was leading them down to the produce section when he heard Peter whispering aggressively behind him. He went to turn and see what was going on, but he was too slow.

“THIS BITCH IS EMPTY!” Thor bellowed, making everyone freeze in preparation for whatever was coming.

“YEET!” The rumble of Thor’s voice, followed by the shatter of the mug across the aisle, made every soul in the grocery store hurry to the exit. The group was quickly shuffled out the door, and the workers took the basket that Scott had been holding. 

Once they were finally outside and sulking once again down the street, Peter broke the awkward silence.

“I’m really sorry, guys. I didn’t think Thor would actually throw it...” Peter hung his head in embarrassment. 

“It’s alright, kid.” Natasha gave Peter’s shoulder a quick squeeze, and the group sunk back into a heavy silence.

Scott decided it was best to head home, so they all said goodbye and went their separate ways. When Scott got home, he realized he didn’t have much food at all. He grabbed the small box of orange juice left from his fridge and fell into his couch. Sitting there doing nothing wasn’t the best thing he could have been doing, and he knew that, but he didn’t know what else to do. 

An hour or so later (Scott wasn’t sure exactly how long he’d been sitting there), he heard a loud and insistent knocking at the door. “I’ll be right there!” he shouted, stretching as he stood up. 

He opened the door to see Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Sam, and Bucky, all carrying two full grocery bags in their arms and looking like they were about to fall over if they held them any longer. Steve was also there, but he wasn’t carrying anything. “ He must have been the one knocking on the door so heavily,” Scott thought to himself. “I'm surprised his hands are still intact.”

He snapped out of his head quickly, realizing he had just been standing there in shock for far too long. “Sorry! What are you all doing here?” He shook his head, quickly adding, “Crap, sorry, come on in!”

Natasha smiled appreciatively and stepped passed Scott, heading straight for the kitchen. Slamming the door behind them, Scott followed them through his house and made room for them to set the bags down. Scott gave them a minute to breathe before eyeing them questioningly. “Are these for me?” he asked nervously.

Nat grinned. “They sure are! We felt bad about what happened earlier, so we went down to another store for you. Tony probably canceled the credit card afterward, but it was worth it.”

Trying to hold back tears, Scott squeaked, “Thank you!”

“Careful, don’t go turning into an ant on us now,” Clint commented as he took a seat at the table. 

“That’s not how it works, but ok.” Scott stared, still in shock, at the many bags in front of him and clapped his hands. “I’m going to make you omelettes!”

They all cheered, and Scott got to work. He whistled the whole time, and after a few minutes, he presented the omelettes. “I have the best friends in the world,” he thought to himself happily.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ItALiaN fOoD

“Where do you two want to eat?” Sam asked as they left Scott’s. He was half-expecting it to be warm when they stepped outside, but the chilly evening air had already settled in. 

Steve shrugged his jacket on and suggested, “There’s that new Italian place we could try?”

“I don’t know...” Sam thought for a minute before continuing. “That place seems kind of fancy, like the type of place that you’d go to on a date.”

Bucky scoffed. “You sure you don’t want to go with Nat to get sushi?”

“I’m pretty sure she was only inviting Clint and Bruce. Besides, I don’t even like sushi,” Sam explained. He stopped walking for a second and realized something. “Wait, do you guys not want me there? Cause if y’all are going on a date, I’ll just go get sushi with Nat.”

Steve laughed, making himself cough for a minute. Sam offered him the inhaler, but Steve shook his head and breathed in calmly. “We’re not going on a date, idiot! I just want Italian food!”

“I’m the idiot?” Sam retorted, completely offended.

Bucky nodded amusedly. “Definitely. So, are we getting Italian, or what?”

Sam shook his head in disbelief. “Fine, we can get Italian.”

Finally in agreement, the three of them strolled the sidewalk to the main street. It being the weekend and all, the restaurants were much more crowded than usual. Luckily, though, they only had to wait twenty minutes to get a table. 

“What are you going to get, Steve?” Bucky asked as he scanned the menu.

Steve shrugged thoughtfully. “I don’t know, maybe this pasta?” Leaning over to show Bucky his menu, Steve pointed at one of the dishes.

“That sounds good,” Bucky acknowledged as he looked back to his own menu. 

It was funny to Sam how oblivious the two of them were, and he couldn’t help but message the group chat.

Sam: I’m third-wheeling! 

Natasha: What’s happening? What am I missing?

Sam: They dragged me to a fancy Italian restaurant, and now they're talking about the menu like an old married couple!

Clint: Haha! I bet you wish you were having sushi with us right now, huh?

Sam: I didn’t think I was invited!

Natasha: You were invited! Steve and Bucky weren’t though.

Sam: Well that wasn’t clear!

Peter: Guys, Tony wants in on the GC.

Bruce: You told Tony about it?!

Peter: I didn’t mean to! I forgot he wasn’t in it, and it just kinda slipped.

-Natasha added Tony Stark to the conversation-

Natasha: There.

Tony: Why do I even have to ask to be added to the group chat?

Peter: He’s mad, guys. I’m worried about his phone with the way he’s typing.

Tony: I’m just a bit upset!

Peter: I’m scared.

Scott: You guys are in the same room and texting each other?

Clint: Bruce, Natasha and I are at dinner together. 

Scott: Seriously? Get off your phones and talk to each other in person!

Sam: I have to go, I think they made a decision on what their getting, and I haven’t even looked at the menu.

Natasha: Get pictures for me!

Sam: I’ll try my best.

Peter: Tony wants you guys to know that his phone died.

-Shuri is typing-

Sam chuckled and shut off his phone, looking up to find Steve and Bucky still contemplating the menu.

“Let’s get both and we can share,” Bucky was saying as he folded up one of the menus.

“Alright!” Steve grinned and laid his menu onto the table as a waitress walked up.

Steve and Bucky gave their orders, and looked expectantly at Sam. “Oh! Right, I’ll get the...” He glanced down at his menu, but then re-thought. “Actually, I’ll just get your special.”

The waitress nodded and took their menus before scurrying back to the kitchen.

“You know what we should do tonight?” Bucky asked Steve, leaning back in his seat.

“What?”

“We should watch the first Star Wars movie again, since you didn’t get to see the whole thing.” Bucky smiled and fiddled with his silverware.

“Okay, I want to know who this Yoda character is!” Steve exclaimed excitedly.

“Well, he’s not in the first one. But we can watch the second one tomorrow.” 

Steve nodded, but Sam didn't catch what he said. He turned his phone back on to find Shuri and Peter sending completely random gifs. Switching to the camera on his phone, Sam snuck a picture of Steve and Bucky leaning over Steve’s phone and laughing. He sent it to the group chat and grinned.

Peter: That’s too cute! Where’s Natasha?

Scott: Socializing with the people she’s with, I’d hope!

Clint: She’s in the bathroom.

Tony: Phone’s charged!

Natasha: WAIT! That picture! It’s going in my photo album!

Clint: Natasha’s back.

Peter: When are we giving the photo album to them?

Natasha: When they admit they’re love for each other!

Shuri: We’ll be lucky if that even happens this decade.

Natasha: Wait, Sam, what are they looking at?

Sam: I have no idea, but they’re planning on re-watching the first Star Wars movie tonight since Steve fell asleep.

Natasha: It just keeps getting cuter!

Tony: Peter, where did you go?

Peter: I’m still on the couch, sir.

Sam jumped when he heard someone approach the table. He stuffed his phone back into his pocket and moved his silverware to make room for the plates.

“Which one do you want to try first?” Steve asked Bucky, folding his napkin onto his lap.

“I’ll just try the one in front of me.” Bucky grinned and picked up his fork.

Once Steve and Bucky had both tried each dish, they switched meals and fell silent. Sam was glad they had finally stopped talking, and he actually enjoyed what the special turned out to be (he wasn’t sure what kind of pasta it was exactly, but it was good). The rest of the evening was quite pleasant... Aside from Sam feeling like he was third-wheeling the whole night.


	8. Chapter 8

“I’m going to take a shower,” Sam said when they made it back to their apartment.

Steve and Bucky weren’t listening, though. They were busy trying to find Star Wars on Sam’s computer. Grumbling to himself, Sam left them in the kitchen and went to shower. He spent more time in the bathroom than he usually would have, just to save himself the burden of having to be around the other two. They’d been acting like a couple all day, and Sam wasn’t sure he could handle it anymore. 

When he eventually came back from his shower, Sam found Steve and Bucky already in pajamas and sitting on Steve's bed with his computer. Bucky had to slouch down in the bed to keep his head from hitting the top bunk, but it just made it easier for Steve to snuggle into Bucky’s shoulder.

"Hey, Sam, do you want to watch it with us?" Steve asked as they paused the movie.

"No, I just watched it," Sam stated, climbing up to his bed. "Besides, I want to read my book."

Sam picked up his book from the pillow and wiggled under his covers. The sound from the movie playing under him made it hard for him to focus on his book, but he still tried. He occasionally succeeded in tuning out the movie, but then Steve or Bucky would make a loud remark that he couldn't tune out. At one point, he heard them pause the movie just to go back and laugh about the blue milk. 

Eventually, he couldn't handle it anymore and threw his book to the side. He crawled back down from the top bunk and went to grab his phone from his coat pocket. There were over a hundred messages from the group chat, but Sam didn't feel like reading through them all.

Sam: These two are so annoying sometimes.

Peter: What'd they do???

Sam: They're snuggling on Steve's bed watching Star Wars.

Natasha: Aww!

Sam: They keep talking! I can't read my book!

Tony: Quit whining, Wilson! Let them be in love!

Sam: *eye roll*

Clint: Why hasn't someone taught him about emojis yet? 

Sam: I know about emojis!

Peter: Sorry! I meant to show him yesterday.

-Sam left the conversation-

Rhodey: Why am I in this group chat?

-Natasha added Sam Wilson to the conversation-

-Rhodey left the conversation-

Scott: WHAT IS GOING ON.

Sam sighed and went back to the bedroom to lay down. Ignoring the insistent buzzes from his phone, he picked his book back up and tried his best to tune the movie out. It only had a few minutes left, though, so Sam flipped off his reading light and tossed his book to the end of the bed. He heard Bucky get up after a minute and rustle around on the futon until he finally settled down.  
Sam was sure Steve would fall asleep quickly, but not even five minutes went by before Bucky whispered, "Steve, you up?"

Sam felt Steve whip around on the bottom bunk to face Bucky, and he knew it would be a while before they got any sleep.

"Yeah, Buck. What's up?" Steve's voice was quiet, but still loud enough to be frustrating.

"Remember the blue milk?" Bucky asked, holding back a chuckle.

Then Steve lost it. Both him and Bucky burst into laughter, which soon turned into a coughing fit.

Bucky jumped out of his bed and rushed to the door, shouting, “Where’s his inhaler, Sam?”

Sam sighed and sat up. “On the counter, by the phone.”

Still coughing and wheezing uncontrollably, Steve grabbed the inhaler from Bucky as he dashed back into the room. All Sam heard for the next ten minutes was Steve’s irregular breaths and wheezes, accompanied by Bucky’s consistent, “It’s going to be ok, Steve.” 

Eventually, Steve’s breathing calmed and the coughing became infrequent. “Can you two please just go to sleep now?” Sam asked as he rolled around in his sheets.

“Yeah,” Steve coughed, letting Bucky help him get comfortable again.

Sam let out a loud huff and closed his eyes as Bucky finally settled back into his own bed.

When Steve’s wheezing finally turned into relaxed breathing again, Sam was convinced that he had finally fallen asleep, but it didn’t last long. 

“Bucky?” Steve whispered, clearly trying to be quiet.

“What’s up, Steve?” Bucky’s voice made it obvious that he hadn’t even been trying to sleep.

“Who’s Yoda?”

Sam heard Bucky prop himself up on the futon to face Steve through the darkness. “I can’t tell you that! We can watch the next movie tomorrow and you’ll find out.”

“You already mentioned him earlier, why can’t you just tell me?”

Not in the mood to let them finish their little conversation, Sam whispered aggressively, “Steve, Bucky, if you two can’t fall asleep, I’m going to make you sleep in the kitchen.”

Sam sighed heavily into his pillow as he heard them settle down. Every now and then, he heard Steve and Bucky rustling around in their blankets, but they stayed quiet for at least thirty minutes. Sam was just beginning to think that they had fallen asleep when he heard Bucky suck in a preparing breath.

“Steve?” Bucky shivered.

“Yeah, Bucky?”

“I’m... I’m cold.”

Sam deliberately slammed his head against his pillow and folded it up around his hears in frustration.

Steve paused thoughtfully for a minute, before saying, “We don’t have any more blankets... but you can sleep in my bed.”

Sam heard Bucky immediately wiggle out of his sheets and grumbled in annoyance.

“Thanks,” Bucky whispered back as he climbed in beside Steve. The bunk bed rocked slightly as Bucky pulled the covers around them, and Sam felt them continue to move around for a couple of minutes before finally seeming to be comfortable. 

Hoping they would maybe finally fall asleep, Sam pulled his face out of his pillow and closed his eyes, desperately trying to drift away. After about an hour, Sam was so close to falling asleep that he jumped when he heard Bucky whisper Steve’s name again.

“Shut up and go to bed!” Sam shouted, not even trying to be quiet anymore. 

Finally, the room fell into a quiet that Sam knew wouldn’t be broken. He felt Steve and Bucky freeze nervously, and he wasn’t even sure that he felt bad. Dozing off at last, Sam was positive that he had finally gotten the other two to shut up. They must have assumed he had fallen asleep, though, because he heard Steve's rustling around in the bed below him.

"Buck?"

Before Bucky could respond, Sam hissed, " _Shut up_!" He tried to hold on to the sleep that was so close to taking him, but it was too late. He was now fully awake again and even more frustrated.

Eventually, Sam heard Steve's low breathing that indicated he had finally fallen asleep, and Bucky's snoring soon followed. He shoved his nose deeper into his pillow and (after what felt like forever) fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No. Homo. Though... _No... Homo..._  
>  :D


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ~Here’s a longer chapter... hopefully it’s not too long. Also, just to warn you, shit only goes down hill from here for a while. I’m really sorry, that’s just how it has to be.

Steve awoke to Bucky’s heavy breathing beside him. Trying his best not to wake him up, Steve shifted his head off of Bucky’s shoulder and rolled onto his back. He could hear Sam’s slow breaths above them and realized it must have been pretty early in the morning. He knew he couldn’t get out of bed without waking Bucky, so he grabbed the computer and his headphones from where he had left them at the foot of the bed and began to scroll through YouTube. 

When he couldn’t find anything to watch, he remembered that Peter had a YouTube channel. He easily found Peter’s videos and clicked the most recent one. Apparently, Peter had videotaped Thor throwing that mug in the store yesterday, and he couldn’t help but laugh as he watched it. He had tried to laugh quietly, but Steve’s shaking must have woken Bucky up. 

“Good morning, Steve,” Bucky whispered, tilting his head to rest against Steve’s arm.

“Oh, hey, good morning,” Steve paused the video and smiled down at Bucky. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Steve felt Bucky’s cheek on his sleeve tighten into a soft grin. “It’s alright, what’re you watching?”

Bucky lifted his head as Steve slid down to be at the same level as Bucky, offering him the extra headphone. “I found Peter’s YouTube channel.”

“I _have_ to see this.” Bucky chucked, shifting closer to Steve comfortably to rest his head on Steve’s shoulder.

Steve laughed softly and unpaused the video, sliding his hand on the keyboard to make it play from the beginning. They tried their best to keep their giggles quiet, but it was clear that Sam wasn’t waking up any time soon. 

“Do you want to go make breakfast?” Bucky asked after they finished a couple more of Peter’s hilarious videos.

“Yes!” Steve whispered excitedly. “You know what we should make?”

Bucky shifted away from Steve to pull the blanket over them both, smiling all the while. “What?”

Steve chuckled as he crawled out behind Bucky. “Blue milk!”

————

“Do you have food coloring?” Bucky asked, rummaging through some cabinets.

Steve grabbed a milk carton from the fridge before standing next to Bucky. “Yeah, up there. Top shelf.” He pointed up to the shelves he couldn’t reach, making Bucky chuckle.

“Shut up,” Steve mumbled under his breath, walking away to set the milk on the counter.

Bucky came back from the cupboards and tossed the food coloring packet onto the table. “How much of this stuff?” Bucky asked as he opened up the small bottle of blue food dye. 

“Just a couple drops, I think.”

“Alright.” Bucky shrugged and opened up the milk to drop the color in. “You want to shake it?”

Steve nodded enthusiastically, waiting for Bucky to put the lid back before grabbing it. He shook it aggressively for a minute, before taking the cap off again to peek inside. “Perfect!” he chuckled, offering it to Bucky. 

They stood there laughing for a few minutes at their ridiculous creation but eventually calmed down. The sun had just barely peeked over the buildings that could be seen from their apartment window, giving the room a cozy feeling. 

“I’m starving,” Steve stated, watching Bucky put the milk back in the fridge.

Bucky nodded. “Yeah, me too... Pancakes?”

Steve smiled and returned the nod. “ _Chocolate chip_ pancakes.”

Grinning, Bucky twirled around to find a mixing bowl in the lower cabinets. “Should we use blue milk?”

“Yeah, obviously,” Steve chuckled. “We also don’t have any other milk, so...”

Bucky smirked back, holding a large metal mixing bowl. “Sam’s going to be _thrilled_ ,” he said sarcastically.

Pulling chocolate chips from a cupboard, Steve grinned and tossed them beside the bowl that Bucky had sat down. “Definitely.”

Bucky slapped both hands on the counter by the bowl and faced Steve. “Do you have a recipe?” he asked politely.

“Oh, well...” Steve glanced around before diving into a nearby cabinet and coming up with a box. “Pancake mix?”

Bucky’s grin widened and he nodded. “Sounds good!”

While Bucky grabbed milk and eggs from the fridge, Steve listed off the instructions on the box. Once they were both clear on what needed to be done, Bucky got to work on mixing everything together in the bowl. While Bucky did that, Steve found a pan and turned the stove on carefully. 

Steve decided it was nice cooking together with Bucky. Sam had let him cook sometimes, of course, but cooking with Bucky felt different. He and Sam would always get into petty arguments about how to do something (even though Steve had no clue what he was doing half the time), but with Bucky, everything felt more natural.

“You wanna flip them?” Bucky asked, offering the spatula to Steve and indicating the pancakes cooking in front of them.

“Sure.” Steve smiled and took the spatula, getting ready to scoop up the pancakes on the stove.

“Wait, Steve! They aren’t done yet.” Bucky grabbed Steve’s arm and held it back gently before letting go. “We only just put them on.”

Steve laughed and tilted his head. “Oh yeah, oops! You sure I should flip these?”

“Yes, punk.” Bucky rolled his eyes in amusement. “We have plenty of batter for mistakes, don’t worry.”

Steve shoved Bucky with his shoulder. “Good, we’re going to need them for all the mistakes you make.”

“Excuse me?” Bucky gasped, pushing Steve back harder.

“Ow! What was that for?”

Bucky rolled his head back and laughed. “You pushed me first!”

“I gently _nudged_ you!” Steve retorted, being sure not to raise his voice too much.

“Whatever.” Bucky chuckled and returned his attention to the stove. “The pancakes are ready to be flipped now.”

Steve grinned as if nothing had happened, and flipped the pancakes carefully. One of them folded over on itself when he flipped it, making Bucky chuckle in amusement. Steve shot him a glance as he sat the spatula on the stove by the pan. “Don’t laugh! Sam never lets me flip pancakes, or do anything that involves hot elements.”

Bucky grinned and quickly pushed the spatula off the stove before the handle started melting. “Yeah, I wonder why,” he said sarcastically, giving Steve a gentle bump with his elbow. 

Steve stared blankly at the spatula and giggled. “Okay, fine, I can’t be trusted with hot things!”

Wrapping an arm around Steve’s bony shoulders, Bucky pulled him against him in a kind gesture. “Don’t worry, I’m here to keep you from burning the house down,” he said softly.

“Jerk,” Steve muttered, attempting to shove away and failing.

“Punk.” Bucky let his grip on Steve loosen to give him the chance to break away, but he didn’t. He pretended not to notice that Bucky’s arm had gone loose and stayed there leaning against Bucky’s side. 

———Sam’s POV———

Sam walked out of the bedroom drowsily and stumbled into the kitchen. His eyes were still adjusting to the light when he noticed Steve and Bucky standing over the stove together. Bucky had his arm wrapped around Steve’s shoulders and Steve was leaning in closely. They looked comfortable and happy, and as much as Sam wanted to go be annoying and disturb them, he turned around quietly and snuck into the bathroom.

————————

After a moment, Steve picked up the still warm spatula and offered it to Bucky. “You should probably flip them this time. I don’t want to burn the house down or anything,” he murmured sarcastically.

“Yeah, good idea,” Bucky chuckled back, playfully bumping Steve to the side with his hip as he took the spatula. 

Steve giggled a little before lightly punching Bucky’s shoulder. “Shut up.”

“ _What_?” Bucky whimpered dramatically as he flipped the pancakes out onto a plate. “You’re the one who said it!”

Grinning, Steve threw some chunks of butter over the pancakes. “I know.”

Bucky scooped more batter onto the pan before twirling the spatula impatiently around in his hand. “Stop doing that!” Steve whined, grabbing it from Bucky and setting it aggressively onto the counter. 

“Hey!” Bucky pouted and folded his arms.

Steve smiled, leaning his head uncomfortably against Bucky’s turned away shoulder. After a minute, Bucky gave in dropped his hand to Steve’s back. He still wouldn’t wrap his arm around him, but Steve didn’t care. “This is nice,” he murmured as Bucky flipped the next pancakes.

He couldn’t see Bucky’s face, but Steve knew he was grinning like an idiot. “Yeah, these pancakes sure are. Do you think Sam would mind if we took his place as the chef in the house?”

Steve chuckled and pushed his head into Bucky’s shoulder. “Yes, I do think Sam would mind... a lot. But I wasn’t talking about the cooking part. I just meant being here with you, idiot.”

“I know.” Bucky smirked, holding Steve closer with his free hand. “But just wait till we devour these bad boys.”

“Why do you _always_ have to ruin the moment?” Steve exclaimed, dramatically throwing his hands in the air and pushing away from Bucky.

“Why does talking about pancakes ruin the moment? Pancakes are incredible!” Bucky chuckled, turning to Steve and attempting to look serious.

Steve rolled his eyes sarcastically. “Why are we even friends?”

“Aw, shut up. Who’s ruining the moment now?”

“You,” Steve grumbled loudly, leaning against the counter behind them.

Bucky shifted to give Steve a dramatic pout before flipping the fresh pancakes onto the plate. “Will you butter these, or do I need to?” he asked, scraping the last of the batter onto the pan.

“I’ll do it, I’m not _that_ upset.” Steve brushed up against Bucky’s arm as he threw down more butter. “Besides, buttering pancakes is kind of my thing.”

Bucky grinned at that. “Well then, you better not mess it up.”

“You’re such a jerk,” Steve chuckled, poking Bucky’s flesh arm with his elbow.

“Ow! Stop that!” Bucky whined, holding his arm and pouting. “My arm’s gonna be all beat up and bruised on the first day of living with you!”

“Aw, don’t be such a _baby_.” Steve gave him a sarcastically apologetic look. 

“Hey!” Bucky punched him gently in the chest, the pout leaving his face without a trace.

“Toddler!” Steve teased, taking a step back to avoid another hit. 

Bucky stepped forward and cornered Steve against the counter, his face a mix of amusement and annoyance. 

“You’re a literal five year old! You can’t even control your anger!” Steve put his hands behind him on the counter, trying to lean away as much as he could. 

Bucky advanced, but Steve saw a kind smile breaking through. He could feel Bucky’s breath on his forehead and it made him shiver. 

“ _Child_...” Steve’s smile was fading as Bucky seemed to search his face. They stood there awkwardly for far too long, and Steve could see Bucky’s jaw clench occasionally. Steve wasn’t sure he knew what was happening as Bucky continued to lean forward. He felt Bucky’s hands hit the counter beside his and he sucked in a breath. Bucky’s eyes were searching Steve’s intently, making it hard for Steve to keep eye contact.

“Whoa! What’s going on?” Sam shouted as he entered the room, covering his eyes with his arm as he turned around.

Bucky practically jumped to the other side of the kitchen and gasped. “No! The pancakes are burning!” he cried, clearly trying to avoid Sam.

Glancing from Sam to Bucky nervously, Steve dropped his shoulders and dragged himself into one of the stools by the counter. Sam had turned around again and was looking in complete shock at his two roommates. “You two are seriously going to try and just shake that off?”

Steve gave him a nervous glance. “Huh? We were just messing around, Sam.”

“Yeah, _clearly_.” Sam shot Bucky an expecting stare as Bucky turned around from the stove. 

“Don’t look at me! Steve wouldn’t stop calling me names!” Bucky said offensively. 

Sam turned on his heel and trudged back to the bedroom. “Y’know what? I’m not even going to try right now.”

Steve shrugged, raising an eyebrow at Bucky. “Wait, Sam!” Steve called suddenly. “Do you want pancakes?”

“No!” Sam shouted back decidedly. 

Turning back around, Steve noticed Bucky hanging his head and staring down at his feet. “What’s wrong, Buck?” Steve asked softly, sliding off of his stool and shuffling over to Bucky.

Bucky popped his head up and whipped back around to the stove. “Nothing, these pancakes almost got burnt,” he mumbled, switching off the heat and removing the last pancakes. 

“The blue from the milk didn’t really stick, huh?” Steve asked, but it was more of a statement than a question. He tossed some pancakes onto plates for the two of them and turned around to face Bucky.

“No, not really,” Bucky mumbled back. “Do you want a glass of blue milk?”

Steve nodded and Bucky reached into a cabinet to find cups. Once they both had their milk and pancakes, they sat side-by-side at the table and ate silently. Steve felt like something had changed between them, but he wasn’t exactly sure what. He was, however, determined to make whatever it was right again.

“My compliments to the chef!” Steve chimed, nudging Bucky’s right arm gently.

“It was pancake mix, Steve,” Bucky murmured quietly, not looking up from his plate.

Bucky clearly didn’t have any plans on being helpful in Steve’s plans on fixing the mood, but that didn’t stop him. “Still,” Steve grumbled through a bite of pancake. “They’re good because you put your time and energy into them! Only Bucky Barnes can make pancakes like these.”

That made Bucky smile a bit. “No, they’re good because you buttered them. _No one_ can butter pancakes this well.” 

“I _am_ pretty good at buttering pancakes, aren’t I?” Steve chuckled, finally receiving a full-on grin from Bucky.

A minute later, Bucky took a sip of his milk and made a face. “Maybe we should stick to regular colored milk,” he mumbled, clicking his tongue in disgust.

“It’s that bad?” Steve grabbed his own cup and took a fairly large gulp. “Oh, ew.”

Bucky laughed and went back into the kitchen to get them both water. “What do you think Sam’s doing?” he asked, setting the cups down before taking his seat.

“Probably texting Nat, he seems to do that a lot lately.”

Bucky raised his eyebrow. “Do you think they’re secretly dating?”

Steve laughed hysterically, having to take a minute to breathe before saying, “No! That’s the _last_ thing I think! Nat and _Bruce_ are dating!” 

“Well,” Bucky continued curiously. “What’s the _first_ thing you think?”

“I think that they think we’re together or something.” Steve drank his water before going on. “Or at least, I know that Peter thinks we’re in love. He said that to me last week and I laughed at him.”

Bucky nodded. “Huh... What idiots,” he said blankly.

Steve shoved more pancake into his mouth to give him a minute to think. Bucky’s attitude was confusing him, but he decided not to worry about it too much. “I know, right?” Steve said at last.

A while later, Bucky got up from the table and went to wash their dishes. Steve swallowed the rest of his water and joined Bucky by the sink with a dish towel, drying the glasses and plates carefully before putting them away.

When Bucky was handing the last plate to Steve, he felt Steve’s hand slip from the wet plate. Before either of them could react, the plate hit the hard floor with a loud crash and scattered in tiny shards of glass. Steve sucked in a breath and noticed blood dripping down his bare ankle. “Sorry, Buck,” he whispered shakily, knowing that Bucky was already not in a great mood.

“It’s ok,” Bucky replied plainly; but before he could continue, Sam burst into the room with his phone held up to his ear.

“What the-” Sam started, but then turned slightly to speak through the phone. “Sorry, Nat, I have to go... Yeah. They broke a plate.” Sam paused and shifted to glance at the broken glass. “Alright, bye.” He hung up abruptly and whipped around to address the situation before him.

“What the hell happened?” Sam whispered aggressively.

Steve gave Bucky a nervous glance, but it was obvious Bucky wasn’t going to say anything. “I was trying to dry a plate... and it just slipped. I’m really sorry.” His voice was quivering slightly and Sam shifted his gaze to the broken glass.

“Steve, is that blood?” Sam asked, noticing the thin line of blood down Steve’s foot. 

Steve blinked and looked back down at his ankle. “Yeah, the glass must have cut me when it shattered... I don’t know how—”

Before Steve could finish his thought, Bucky stepped carefully through the glass with a paper towel and crouched down to hold it against the cut. “Will you get us the broom, Sam?” he asked, his voice still sounding upset.

Sam grumbled as he trudged over to the closet, returning a moment later with the broom swung over his shoulder. He held it out for a moment, but then seemed to rethink as he swept up the surrounding glass. Once the glass around Steve and Bucky was swept into a pile, Bucky helped Steve into a stool and went into the bathroom.

Once Bucky was gone, Sam gave Steve a questioning stare. Steve assumed it had something to do with the broken plate, so he ignored it and focused his attention on keeping the paper towel against his foot. 

None of them said anything more as Bucky cleaned up Steve’s cut and Sam swept the floor. It was an awkward silence, but none of them felt like breaking it. Once the glass was gone and Steve’s foot was no longer dripping blood, Sam turned the kettle on and made himself a coffee. Steve and Bucky stood awkwardly by as they watched Sam pour blue milk into his coffee. “Wait,” Sam said suddenly, breaking the silence and lifting the milk cartoon to peer into it. “Why is this blue?”

The tension and awkwardness finally breaking, Bucky and Steve burst into laughter. “It’s like the milk from Star Wars!” Bucky chuckled and gave Steve a high-five. Sam was staring in disbelief at the two of them, not sure how to react.

“You two are complete children sometimes,” he said at last, throwing the milk back into the fridge and sitting with a book and his coffee at the table. 

The awkwardness settled back in after a while, and Steve decided to take a shower. When he returned, Sam was closing his book and hadn’t seemed to have touched his coffee. Seeing Steve looking at Sam’s coffee, Sam spoke up and said, “Yeah, I noticed the weird milk through the coffee.”

Steve chuckled and glanced down at Sam’s phone that was continuously buzzing from texts. “Who’s texting you?” he asked as he took a seat by Bucky who was sitting awkwardly and watching the two of them. Bucky had also apparently gotten dressed while he was gone in a blue t-shirt and black jeans

“Oh, just a group chat.” Sam picked up his phone to silence it and flipped it over on the table. “So,” he said after a minute. “About last night.” Steve glanced worriedly at Bucky before Sam continued. “You two can’t stay up talking all night like you did. I don’t care if you two sleep in the bottom bunk together or whatever, but please, I actually enjoy sleeping.”

“Yeah, that won’t happen again,” Bucky said quickly, not even glancing at Steve.

“Good, thank you.” Sam gave them both a short nod before moving on to the next thing he had on his mind. “Also, I didn’t have anything planned for today, but now that you two decided to ruin our only milk, I think I’m going to go shopping.”

“I’ll come with you,” Bucky replied, giving Sam a blank look. 

Sam sighed and looked up to Steve, who was staring at Bucky and trying to sort things out in his mind. Bucky was acting weird, and Steve wanted to know why.

“Okay, you can both come,” Sam said after a short pause. 

Bucky seemed to sigh and sink into his chair, and Steve fiddled with the table cloth absentmindedly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I feel so bad about how sad this story got. I promise not to keep you all waiting for the next chapter, though! :’)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you I wouldn’t make you wait too long after that last chapter. ;) This chapter doesn’t really wrap anything up or make anything happier, but it’s got a couple good moments...

“You two ready?” Sam asked as they joined him by the door. 

They both nodded silently and followed him out to the elevator, awkwardly standing behind him as they went down. 

After a few minutes of walking in complete silence, Sam asked, “Are you two gonna say anything, or should we be learning sign language?”

Steve looked up to Bucky expectantly, but he had his eyes focused straight ahead of him determinedly. “Sign language might be a good idea,” Steve mumbled, hanging his head slightly.

Sam thought for a minute before responding. “Did something happen that I should know about?” he questioned, his voice suddenly much softer than it had been.

“No,” Bucky stated plainly, his voice breaking as he said it.

Sam noticed Steve sigh heavily, but he didn’t push any further. As much as he hated the awkwardness that had fallen between them, he didn’t want to make anything worse.

They walked without another word to the store and hardly said anything once they got there either. Luckily, they only needed a few things, but Sam wished he hadn’t told both of them to come along. Sam knew that all three of them being roommates was going to be rough, but he wasn’t expecting them to stop talking to each other on the first day. 

“Here, you two go pick a place for lunch and I’ll run these to the apartment,” Bucky suggested as they left the grocery store.

Sam was handing Bucky the bags, but still asked, “You sure? Cause I can go—” 

Bucky cut him off. “No, it’s fine, I got it.” He shifted the bags around in his hands and paused for a second. “Just text me when you pick a place, and I’ll meet you guys there.” His voice was a lot calmer than it was earlier, and Steve felt a little better. 

“Yeah, we’ll let you know,” Steve assured him with a nervous smile. 

Bucky nodded softly before turning away, leaving Sam and Steve to wander down the streets deciding where to eat.

“Should we just do take-out?” Steve asked, having already passed two restaurants that they decided against.

“Maybe,” Sam said thoughtfully. “Are you and Bucky good?”

Steve glanced up at him questioningly. “Yeah, I think we’re fine. Why?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to tell me anything, but I’m here if you ever need to, okay?” 

Steve nodded. “Okay, thanks,” he said quietly, turning to look down the street and find a restaurant.

“Should we just order some sandwiches?” Sam asked after a while as they stopped at a Mexican restaurant.

Steve paused and looked at the menu posted on the door. “I don’t know, this Mexican place looks good.”

“I didn’t think you liked Mexican, but okay.” Sam shrugged and pulled out his phone.

“Wait, I’ll text Bucky,” Steve said hurriedly, pulling his phone from his pocket.

Sam nodded and they stepped to the side of the building, not wanting to take up the sidewalk. 

Pulling up Bucky’s contact, Steve sent a quick text.

Steve: Hey, we’re getting Mexican food at the little place by the ice cream shop.

Bucky: Which ice cream shop?

Steve: The one by the Mexican restaurant.

Bucky: Real helpful. Do you know what street you’re on?”

Steve: Same street as our apartment, just down a few blocks.

Bucky: Alright, I guess I’ll find it eventually.

Steve: We’re going to get a seat, see you soon.

Steve shut off his phone and followed Sam into the restaurant. “Is he on his way?” Sam asked as a waiter guided them to a table. 

“Yeah, I may not have been very clear on where we were, though.”

Sam shook his head as they took a seat. “What did you tell him?”

Steve turned his phone back on and slid it across the table, waiting as Sam read the conversation. Once he finished reading it, he slid it back slowly and shook his head. “You really need to learn street names, Steve.”

“There are so many of them, though,” Steve complained as he pocketed his phone. “Do you think he knows where the restaurant is?”

Sam nodded in amusement. “Yeah, I’m sure he’ll figure it out.”

Steve looked over his menu thoughtfully, but he wasn’t contemplating the menu. A moment later, Steve felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He assumed it was from Bucky, but when he pulled it out he saw a text from Nat asking if he could call her.

He looked up for a second to leave, but decided otherwise and stayed in his seat. 

Steve: I can’t, we’re out getting lunch. I’ll call you later?

Natasha: No, that’s alright, we can just text. 

Steve: Alright, what’s up?

Natasha: I have the day off tomorrow and was wondering if you were free to hang out?

Steve: Yeah! I’ll just be at the apartment all day, so drop by whenever.

Natasha: Okay, sounds good! I’ll let you get back to lunch!

Steve: Thanks, see you tomorrow.

Shutting off his phone again, Steve looked up to find Bucky walking towards them with his hands shoved into his pockets. “Hey, Buck, you found us!” Steve said, smiling as Bucky took the seat beside him.

“Yep, thanks to your really clear descriptions of where this place was,” Bucky replied sarcastically. There was a familiar lightness in Bucky’s tone that made Steve grin.

A waiter came up to their table just then, asking if they were ready to order.

“Give us a couple more minutes,” Sam responded appreciatively, picking up his menu as the waiter left their table. “Do you know what you’re getting, Steve?”

Steve glanced at his menu and nodded. “Yeah, I’m getting tacos. What are you getting, Bucky?”

Bucky looked up from his menu and shrugged. “Tacos, I guess. Everything else looks complicated and daring.”

“You two need to open up and try new things! Be adventurous!” Sam sighed heavily, leaning back in his seat.

“Fine,” Bucky responded in annoyance. “I’ll get the... spicy chicken fajitas.”

Steve laughed and tossed his menu in front of him. “Nope, I’m sticking with my tacos.”

They all chuckled at that, and they were still grinning when the waiter returned. “Are you ready to order?” he asked them, pulling a notepad and pencil from his apron.

They all nodded and gave him their order. Once he had written them down, the waiter took their menus and left again. 

“Oh hey, Steve,” Sam said suddenly, leaning his shoulders against the tables. “Who texted you earlier?”

Steve looked up and grinned. “Oh yeah! It was Nat, she’s going to come and hang out with me tomorrow.”

“What?” Bucky blurted out, actively trying to drink water. “Doesn’t she have to go into work with us?”

Steve shook his head. “No, she said she gets the day off.”

Bucky sighed and leaned back into the seat. “That’s not fair, why don’t I ever get days off?”

Sam laughed. “Maybe it’s because you don’t put a lot of effort into your job.”

“Excuse me?” Bucky responded in disbelief. “I’m literally their little minion! Also, why aren’t you and Nat broke? Do they not pay me as much?”

Sam chuckled and folded his arms. “First of all, you’re terrible with money. You should be able to live off of what they give you, but you spend it all the minute they give it to you!”

Bucky glared at Sam in annoyance but didn’t exactly deny it.

“Also,” Sam continued. “Nat and I have other jobs.”

“You didn’t know that?” Steve asked Bucky, holding back a laugh.

“No I didn’t know that,” Bucky responded as he set his cup down heavily.

“Hey, how about we _not_ break glass in the restaurant?” Sam suggested sarcastically.

They all leaned back in unison, making Steve laugh a bit. A little while later, Sam asked Steve, “So, what are you and Nat going to do?”

Steve perked his head up and leaned against the table. “I don’t know, we might just hang around the apartment.”

“Boring,” Bucky said plainly.

Steve rolled his eyes. “I bet we‘ll have way more fun then you two.”

“Probably,” Bucky agreed, leaning his chin into his hand.

The afternoon dragged on, and there were a few times Steve felt like things were back to normal. He got an occasional genuine laugh out of Bucky, but he still seemed a bit off all day. When they got back to their apartment later, Bucky went straight to the shower, and Steve and Sam changed into pajamas. 

Bucky came back from the bathroom with his hair dripping wet. Steve and Sam were already settling into the bedroom for the evening and Steve had Sam’s computer set up next to him. When he saw Bucky enter the room, he looked up and grabbed the computer expectantly. “Are we watching the next movie, Buck?” he asked softly. The sun was just barely beginning to set, so Sam said he didn’t care if they watched it.

“No, I’m tired,” Bucky replied as he threw the blinds over the window to darken the room. 

Sam heard Steve sigh heavily and close the computer. “Alright,” Steve murmured sadly. 

Bucky slipped under his covers and rolled over to face the wall, leaving Steve to grudgingly get into his own bed. Sam still had his reading light on, but he knew something was wrong so he flipped it off. Steve and Bucky had been on and off with each other all day, but Sam knew it was mostly Bucky’s side. Whatever had happened between them that morning, he wasn’t letting go of easily. Sam thought about grabbing his phone and messaging Natasha, but decided against it and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHH I don’t know what I’m doing. -_-  
> The ending of this one is definitely still very sad and I’m sorry. :’( I promise I have a plan for them and it’ll all be okay in the end. 🌿


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nat and Steve have a cozy lil breakfast and bake cookies! Steve’s starting to question his sexuality.

By the time Steve woke up, Sam and Bucky had already left the apartment. The place smelled like coffee and oatmeal, but when he went into the kitchen, the dishes had already been cleaned. Not feeling like making anything or going out by himself to get breakfast, Steve texted Natasha as he sat at the kitchen table.

Steve: Hey, Sam and Bucky are gone and didn’t leave me any breakfast, do you want to meet me at the cafe across from my apartment?

Natasha: Okay, yeah! I’ll be there in fifteen!

Steve jumped up and dashed into the shower, still in pajamas, and not ready to go anywhere so soon. Somehow, though, he managed to shower and get dressed within ten minutes without even aggravating his asthma. As soon as he was ready, Steve dashed out the door and almost forgot to grab his key to the apartment. 

When Steve got to the cafe, he got himself a hot chocolate and a coffee for Nat before finding an empty table for them both. Steve got them a table by a window and noticed a couple sitting outside with coffee and laughing together. Natasha arrived a few minutes later and waved at Steve as soon as she spotted him. 

“Hey, Nat!” Steve said cheerfully as she walked over.

“Hey, is that for me?” Nat asked as she took the seat across from Steve, pointing to the extra cup in front of him.

Steve nodded and slid the mug to Natasha. “Mmm, thanks,” she said appreciatively, holding the warm cup to her chest. “Aren’t you cold?” 

When Steve had left his apartment, he hadn’t exactly remembered to grab a jacket. He was, at least, wearing a long sleeve shirt, but it was a thin shirt. “No, I’m fine,” he lied, realizing it actually was pretty chilly.

Nat saw through his lie, though, and shook her head disapprovingly. “Whatever, we won’t stay out long.”

“What are we doing today?” Steve asked curiously, taking a sip of his hot chocolate. 

Nat swallowed. “Well, I thought maybe we could go to the park or something for a bit, just to pass the time? But it doesn’t look like it’s going to warm up, so we should probably just chill at your apartment.”

“Alright, that sounds good.” Steve gulped down more of his drink and smiled.

“Weren’t you going to get breakfast? I thought that was the whole reason we were here,” Nat reminded him after a minute.

“Oh, right! One second.” Steve pushed his chair out and rushed over to the counter, grabbing a menu for each of them. He skipped back over and slid one next to Nat, slipping back into his seat and looking over the menu.

Natasha laughed. “You’re a mess,” she said gently, glancing at her menu.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Steve asked, peeking at her over his menu.

“Nothing.” Natasha shook her head. “Oh, did you guys watch the second Star Wars movie last night?”

Steve sighed and hung his head over the table. “No,” he replied dryly.

“What happened?” Nat asked curiously.

Steve shook his head and held his menu. “Nothing, I’ll tell you about it later. I need breakfast right now, though.”

Nat forced a smile and looked at her menu again. “I’d kill for an omelette right now.”

——————

“Do you want to talk about Bucky yet?” Natasha asked softly as they entered Steve’s apartment. She hadn’t brought Bucky again during breakfast, but Steve knew she had been thinking about it.

“I guess, I just don’t know if there’s much to talk about.” Steve tossed his keys on the counter, avoiding Nat’s gaze.

“Clearly that’s not true,” Nat said gently, shrugging her jacket off and throwing it over a chair. “What happened?”

Steve sat down and covered his face with his hands, leaning on his elbows heavily. After a minute, he propped his head up to face Natasha as she pulled out a chair across from him. “C’mon, talk to me.”

Sighing, Steve explained everything that had happened that morning, leaving out the part about Bucky pushing him against the counter. But Nat knew that he wasn’t telling the whole truth, and gave him an expecting look when he paused.

“You think he got that mad about you calling him names?” Nat questioned in disbelief. 

“I don’t know, I mean...” Steve stuttered, staring at the table cloth blankly.

Natasha shook her head and sighed. “Listen, Steve, I’m not an idiot. What actually happened?” She paused before adding. “You can tell me, Steve.”

Steve sucked in a breath before sputtering, “I don’t know...” His voice quivered and he squeezed his head. “There was this thing that happened when I kept calling him a child, he pushed me against the counter and got really close to me. I didn’t dislike the closeness, and it’s not like we haven’t been that close before, but it sort of freaked me out.” He paused, sucking in a shaky breath before continuing. “It doesn’t matter anyway, cause then Sam walked in and made Bucky jump away.” 

Natasha seemed to freeze, staring at him in what Steve took to be a look of shock. “Steve,” she began, pausing to pull Steve’s hands away from his face. “You’re the biggest idiot I have ever met,” she stated seriously.

“What?”

“Bucky likes you, Steve!”

Steve shook his head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I just told you, Steven! He is in love with you!” Nat threw her hands up in annoyance and folded her arms. “Wait, are you not gay?”

Steve hung his head. “I- What? I don’t know...” His voice shook, and Natasha realized she probably shouldn’t have said that.

“Sorry, Steve, I shouldn’t have asked that,” she said nervously.

“No, I... It’s ok.” Steve looked up and wiped his palm across his dry cheek. “I’m just trying to process everything.”

Natasha nodded sadly and reached over to squeeze his arm. “Look, I won’t leave if you don’t want me to, but maybe you should take some time to yourself before Sam and Bucky come home.”

Steve forced himself to smile and shook his head. “No, I’m alright. Can we just talk about something else?”

“Yeah,” Nat replied hurriedly, placing her hands in her lap. “Oh, are you coming to Tony and Pepper’s wedding next weekend?”

Steve looked up in shock, running a hand through his very tangled hair. “They’re engaged?”

Nat nodded. “Yeah, you didn’t know?”

“No, for how long?” Steve asked, his voice still shaking slightly.

“A few months, they didn’t make a big deal out of it, though.” Nat made a curious face. “I’m surprised you didn’t get an invitation.”

Steve shrugged. “Do you think he invited Bucky?” 

“I’m guessing he didn’t think about it, he probably just invited all of SHIELD.” She gave him a slight frown before continuing. “I’m sure he meant to invite you, and either way, you’re coming.” 

“I don’t know...”

“You’re coming whether you like it or not,” Nat stated decidedly. “I can make Tony send you an invite if you want?”

“What about Bucky?” Steve asked nervously.

“Steve, it’s not for another week. I’m sure you’ll have things figured out before then, and that’s when you can decide, okay?

Steve nodded thoughtfully, hanging his head to stare at his fidgeting hands.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Natasha said softly. “Everything will work itself out soon enough.”

Steve sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

Nat and Steve spent the rest of the day hanging around the apartment and baking cookies. The quite gloominess that hung over the city, made the apartment feel cozy. Baking cookies just added to the warmth Steve felt, but it also made him sad. He couldn’t help but think about how he and Bucky had cooked together just yesterday, but he tried to ignore the thought and enjoy his time with Nat. 

“Do you want to join Bruce and me for dinner?” Natasha asked as she pulled her jacket on, getting ready to leave.

“No thanks, I’m sure Sam will cook something up when he gets back.” He grinned and threw a couple of cookies into a ziplock. “Here, take these.”

Natasha smiled back appreciatively as she took the bag. “Thanks, and are you sure? I think we’re just going to get burgers.”

“Yeah.” Steve nodded and leaned his weight against the counter. “You two have fun.”

Nat shrugged and grabbed the doorknob. “Alright, call me if you need anything, or if you just want to talk later.”

Steve chuckled a little but then sighed. “Thanks, Nat. For everything.”

Nat smiled, pausing as she pulled the door open. “Anytime. You promise to call if anything comes up?”

Nodding, Steve pushed away from the counter and wrapped his arms around Nat. “Yeah, I will.”

Nat chuckled. “Okay, I’ll text you later,” she promised.

“Alright, bye,” Steve replied as Natasha stepped through the door, waving slightly. 

“Bye, Steve.” Nat closed the door behind her and Steve sighed. It was another hour or so before Sam and Bucky would get home, which gave Steve plenty of time to do absolutely nothing. And that’s exactly what he did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it’s kind of a shorter chapter, but I feel a really long chapter coming on so enjoy the short ones while they last.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -This picks up Right after the last chapter.

Steve threw himself onto his bed and stared at the underside of Sam’s bunk blankly, waiting for the sound of Sam’s keys unlocking the door. Even though Steve spent the whole time thinking, he didn’t feel like he had thought about anything. Everything that had happened the other morning was playing over and over in his head, along with what Nat had said to him a few hours ago.

Finally, the familiar sound of keys and the rattling doorknob caught Steve’s attention. He jumped up and rushed over to greet them in the kitchen, but then froze. Bucky was closing the door behind him and Sam wasn’t there. “Hey, where’s Sam?” he asked, nervously wringing his palms together.

Bucky looked up and set the keys next to the ones Steve had tossed earlier. “He’s running into the store to get noodles or something.” Bucky shrugged and pulled off his jacket, not paying too much attention to Steve. “He should be here soon, though.”

Steve sighed and sunk into one of the kitchen chairs. “Are you okay?” Bucky asked naturally.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Steve lied, keeping his eyes on the table. A second later, Steve felt Bucky breathe heavily beside him and pull out a chair. 

Steve shifted his head just enough to see Bucky sit beside him and fold his hands in front of him on the counter. “How was work?” Steve asked coolly, shifting to stare into his lap.

Bucky chuckled lightly and replied, “Boring, Sam got to go out on patrol while I had to keep an eye on things inside with Tony. Did you know he and Pepper were engaged?”

“Not until today,” Steve answered. “Nat mentioned it earlier today.”

Bucky nodded and waited a minute before continuing. “Well, Tony invited both of us. He forgot to send us invitations, but he said he wants us to be there.”

Steve lifted his head to look questioningly at Bucky. “Are you going?”

Bucky seemed surprised by the question and tilted his head in Steve’s direction. “Yeah, I think so. Are you not going to come?” 

“I don’t know.” Steve shrugged. “I mean, I probably will.”

Bucky nodded and stood up. “I’m going to- Wait! Did you guys make chocolate chip cookies?”

Steve grinned slightly and leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, you should have smelled the apartment earlier.”

Bucky chuckled softly and bit into a cookie. “Mmm, these are delicious,” he said quietly. Swallowing the last piece of cookie in his mouth, he said, “Alright, I’m going to take a quick shower before Sam gets back.” 

He left the room and Steve sighed to himself. Bucky definitely seemed to be in a better mood than he was yesterday, but there was still something tense and awkward between them. When Sam got to the apartment, he had two full grocery bags and Bucky had already showered and gotten dressed.

“Didn’t we just go shopping yesterday?” Steve questioned, taking a bag from Sam and taking it into the kitchen.

“Well, yeah,” Sam said slowly. “But I forgot some things and wanted to make pasta tonight.”

Steve shrugged and helped Sam put the groceries away. Bucky hung back in the bedroom doorway before joining them in the kitchen. “Did you and Nat make these?” Sam asked, picking up one of the cookies and giving it a quick look before taking a bite. 

“Yep,” Steve confirmed. “Didn’t burn anything down either,” he added dramatically.

“Impressive,” Sam mumbled through a mouth full of cookie.

Bucky watched as Sam got to work making dinner, but he wasn’t necessarily paying attention to anything he was doing; he just wanted something to do with his eyes while he thought. Steve had jumped up to sit on the counter by the fridge and was swinging his legs like a child. 

Occasionally, Bucky would catch Steve staring at him, but he always looked away as soon as Bucky looked over. He knew, though, that it didn’t mean anything. Bucky was well aware that Steve was just his friend and would never be anything more, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt. He also knew he hadn’t been too nice to Steve lately and he hated himself for it.

Finally finished with the pasta, Sam set a stack of plates on the counter and stabbed a giant spoon into the meal. “Eat up!” he said gleefully, scooping a large portion of pasta onto his plate.

Bucky waited for Steve to get his before standing and taking extra time to serve himself. When he sat down, Sam was talking to Steve about Tony and Pepper’s wedding. Apparently, he had heard about it for the first time today, too. “I think I’m going to drive down early with Rhodey and Clint,” he was saying. “But you and Bucky should just fly down.”

Bucky sat beside Steve who was nodding. “Okay, yeah. Do we have to get plane tickets?”

“No.” Sam paused to swallow a bite of noodles. “Tony said he’s taking care of that.”

“Alright.” Steve looked questioningly up at Bucky. “You’re cool with that, right?”

Bucky nodded and intentionally took a bite of pasta to avoid having to respond verbally.

That night, Steve didn’t bother to ask Bucky if he wanted to watch the next Star Wars movie. It was getting late anyway, so Steve didn’t feel too weird about it. Instead, he grabbed Sam’s laptop on his way into bed and stared at a blank google tab for about fifteen minutes. Bucky had his back turned away, so both Steve and Sam assumed he had fallen asleep.

Sam sat up reading his book for a while, and every now and then he heard Steve tapping rapidly on the keyboard. He assumed Steve was just watching YouTube videos or something, but then he heard a small, shaky gasp escape from Steve’s mouth. Of course, the gasp could have been from a video he was watching, but Sam decided to text him anyway. 

Sam: Hey, Steve, are you okay?

It took Steve a minute to respond, and when he did, Sam heard a slight sniffle from beneath him.

——Bucky’s POV——

_Is Steve crying?_ Bucky asked himself as he laid wide awake in his bed. He heard Sam set his book down, was he texting Steve? Bucky shook his head, telling himself that Steve probably just had a stuffy nose. Steve got runny noses pretty often, especially on cold days as it had been. But Bucky couldn’t help the odd feeling bubbling up inside him about the thought that Steve and Sam might be texting.

————

Steve: Yeah, I’m fine, why?

Sam: Steve, I hear you sniffling, what’s wrong?

Sam felt the bunk beds shake as Steve moved around, and a second later received a picture of Steve’s computer screen. The screen had one of those “am I gay” quizzes pulled up, and the answer in the middle of the page had ‘YES’ in big, bold lettering. 

Steve was quiet sobbing at this point, and it didn’t help when Sam took a minute to process what Steve had just sent him.

Steve: Sam?

Sam: That’s just a stupid thing on the internet, Steve. You can’t take things like that seriously, you have to trust your heart.

A loud sniffle came from Steve as soon as he got Sam’s message, and Sam was worried it was the wrong thing to say.

Steve: I think I’m in love with Bucky.

Sam hadn’t been expecting that. Although, he should have been. What else had he expected Steve to say? Sam’s first thought was to text the group chat for help but decided against it. He knew Steve would want to tell them all this himself, and Sam wasn’t going to be a jerk and ruin that for him.

Sam: Yep, that would be your heart talking.

He regretted it the moment he sent it, realizing his stupid comments might not go by too well right now. Sam heard Steve’s intake of breath followed by a small cough/chuckle (he wasn’t quite sure).

Sam: Hey, it’s going to be alright. Do you need your inhaler?

Steve: No, I’m okay. What am I supposed to do?

Sam: Well, do you want to tell Bucky?

Steve: I don’t know, I think so. Nat seems to think Bucky likes me.

Sam: It’s kind of obvious that he does. So Nat knows about this?

Steve: Not really, you’re the first one I’ve told about how I feel towards Bucky.

Steve continued to breathe heavily, his breath shaking and pausing every so often.

Sam: Alright, I promise not to tell anyone else.

Steve: Thanks. Do you think I should tell Bucky?

Sam: Do I think you should tell him at all? Yes. But you get to decide when, or if, that happens.

Steve: Yeah, okay. 

Sam wasn’t sure how to respond anymore and Steve was still sniffling softly.

Steve: I want to tell him eventually, maybe even before Tony and Pepper’s wedding, but I don’t know.

Sam: That’s okay, you’ll figure it out. 

Steve: Yeah...

Steve: Oh hey, don’t tell anyone about that quiz thing either. I need time to think about it, and I’d just like to come out on my own.

Sam: I know, I won’t tell anyone anything, don’t worry.

Sam heard Steve let out a sigh of relief and whisper a soft ‘thank you’ before closing the laptop. Steve rolled onto his side with his phone, trying his best not to make the bed creak.

——Bucky’s POV——

At this point, Bucky knew for a fact that Steve and Sam were texting. It was also clear that Steve was sniffling from crying, not from the cold, which worried Bucky. What were they talking about that had Steve in tears? What could Sam possibly be saying to him that was hurting Steve like that? Bucky felt guilty about how jealous he felt, but he tried to shake the feeling off as he squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to fall asleep.

————

Steve: I’m going to try and sleep, thanks for talking to me.

Sam: Anytime, Steve. Good night.

——————

When Bucky woke up that morning, Sam was already in the kitchen making coffee. He climbed out of bed slowly, pausing to look at Steve for a moment. Steve was curled up in his covers and had his arm tucked under his small head like a pillow, even though he had an actual pillow. Bucky smiled to himself before quickly throwing on a hoodie and joining Sam in the kitchen.

“Morning,” Bucky grumbled as he reached into the fridge for the milk.

Sam gave him a curious look before replying, “Hey, do you want coffee?”

Bucky shrugged. “Sure.” He waited until he had a bowl of cereal and coffee in front of him before even thinking to ask about last night. Bucky sipped his coffee thoughtfully, trying to decide if it was a good idea or not. Before he could decide, though, Sam got up and left for the bathroom to get ready.

In the end, Bucky decided against asking about it for now. Not just because Steve had woken up while Sam was in the bathroom, but also because Bucky didn’t feel like he was in the right place to ask about it.

“Hey, Bucky,” Steve greeted him drowsily as he stepped heavily into the kitchen.

“Good morning,” Bucky replied, watching as Steve took a seat in the chair across from him.

“Are you leaving for work soon?” Steve asked after a minute.

“We’ve got thirty minutes before we have to go, but yeah.” Bucky kept his voice calm, trying to read Steve’s body language but failing. It was especially hard since Steve still seemed to be half-asleep. “Do you have any plans today?” Bucky asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

Steve shook his head. “Not exactly. I’ll probably just stay here and catch up on sleep.”

Bucky looked at him questioningly. “You aren’t going to get out at all?”

“I don’t know.” Steve shrugged. “I might, we’ll see.”

Bucky sighed and got up to put his dishes in the sink as Sam came back from his shower. “Be ready in fifteen or I’m leaving without you,” Sam said seriously. “Not that you care, I just thought I’d prepare you for your lonely walk.”

Bucky glared at him and left to get dressed, ignoring Sam’s continuous unnecessary comments.

bucky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhm yeah... I’m almost done with the next chapter so expect to see that by tomorrow.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The best thing about this chapter is the Agent Coulson and Steve have switched places. :) Now Steve’s obsessed with Coulson lmao it’s great.

It was Saturday morning, the day they were leaving for California, and Steve wasn’t ready. He was already packed and everything (Bucky had made sure he packed two days in advance so he wouldn’t forget anything), but he just wasn’t ready for a five-hour flight with Bucky. Sam had triple-checked that he was okay traveling with Bucky before he left Wednesday afternoon with Rhodey and Clint, and Steve had assured him it was fine. He really did think it would be fine, but now that it was so close, Steve was kind of nervous.

The first thing Steve noticed when he woke up was the familiar smell of soap and Bucky’s freshly washed hair. He rolled over onto his side and saw Bucky packing some last-minute things into his suitcase, trying to be as quiet as possible. Sitting up to stretch in his arms, Steve let out a low yawn. 

“Oh, hey,” Bucky said quietly, glancing up from his bag to see Steve. “Did I wake you up?”

Steve shook his head and threw off his sheets, sitting up to dangle his legs off the bed. “No, what time is it?” Steve felt exhausted, and his voice made that very clear.

“Seven,” Bucky replied after checking his watch. “We have to leave in an hour to get to the airport by eight-thirty.” Bucky had been stressing about the flight ever since they had gotten the tickets from Tony, and it wasn’t helping that Steve was completely calm about the whole thing (for the most part).

Steve sighed and slipped off his bed, grabbing the pair of jeans and t-shirt that Bucky had made him set out the night before. Their flight wasn’t until ten, but with how stressed out Bucky was about it, Steve had given up on trying to convince him to let them leave later. “How long have you been up?” Steve asked, pausing in the doorway to the bathroom to look back at Bucky.

“I don’t know, didn’t check the time when I woke up.” Bucky shrugged and went back to zipping up his bag.

Taking that to mean that Bucky had been up for far too long, Steve shuffled into the bathroom and took a quick shower.

————

“You’re not even going to let us get breakfast?” Steve asked when he walked back into their bedroom, running a hand through his wet hair in an attempt to smooth it out.

Bucky slid Steve’s suitcase over him and glanced around the room. “We can just get breakfast at the airport. Here, put any toiletries you need to bring in here.” Bucky offered Steve a ziplock bag, not turning to make eye contact at all.

Steve rolled his eyes and took the bag, turning on his heel back towards the bathroom. He stuffed his toothbrush and toothpaste into the bag but didn’t even bother with shampoo or anything. Bucky had a whole set of soaps for traveling so Steve didn’t see the point in bringing more than that. 

“You sure you got everything?” Bucky asked as Steve slid the plastic bag into his suitcase.

“Yeah. You need to stop worrying, Bucky. We’re only going to be gone a couple of days and you’re packing like we’re going to be gone for weeks!”

Bucky grumbled and gave one last look through his things. “I just like to be well prepared, Steve, maybe you should try it sometime.”

Steve sighed heavily and unzipped his suitcase. “I don’t think I will. In fact, I was going to bring two pairs of pants, but I can just rewear the one pair.” He pulled out a folded pair of jeans and tossed them onto his bed before zipping his suitcase back up.

“You’re so frustrating sometimes,” Bucky whined, falling back onto the futon as Steve walked off with his under-filled suitcase.

Bucky joined Steve in the kitchen a minute later with his luggage, tossing the bag on a chair before turning to see what Steve was doing. “Hey, wait! We don’t have time for you to eat breakfast,” Bucky pleaded, rushing over to stop Steve from making a bowl of cereal.

“Dude!” Steve held up his hand with the milk to keep it out of Bucky’s reach, but Bucky was way taller than him so it was pointless. “It’s cereal, Bucky! We have time to—”

Bucky grabbed the milk and cereal box from Steve and returned them to their places in the kitchen. “No, Steve. We have fifteen minutes before the bus gets here so we should leave in five, just to be safe.”

Steve whined and folded his arms. “I can eat cereal in five minutes!”

Bucky shook his head and pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. “Nope, I need you to go over this list and double-check that you have everything. I would have done it for you earlier, but I didn’t think you’d want me searching through your stuff.”

“You have got to be kidding me!” Steve rolled his eyes and took the paper, reading through the list and digging through his bag tiredly. “Yep, got everything,” Steve stated, looking at Bucky hopefully.

Bucky raised an eyebrow questioningly. “You’re sure?”

“Yes,” Steve whined back, closing up his suitcase. “Can I have cereal now?”

Bucky shook his head, sighing lightly as he picked up his bags from the chair. “No, the five minutes are up.”

Steve made to whine again but Bucky cut him off. “We’ll get you food once we get to the airport, okay?”

Steve sighed and grabbed his suitcase. “Fine,” he grumbled as Bucky walked past him to the door.

“Who’s the child now?” Bucky chuckled, holding the door open and ruffling Steve’s hair with his free hand as they walked out.

“Shut up,” Steve mumbled, trying to hide his grin.

They made it to the bus stop ten minutes before it was scheduled to arrive, but busses always tend to be a bit late so they were waiting even longer. When the bus didn’t arrive on time, Bucky began impatiently tapping his knuckles against the suitcase. 

“Stop that, Buck.”

Bucky stopped immediately and looked up at the sound of his nickname’s nickname. Steve hadn’t called him that all week, ever since that night Bucky had heard him crying.

Steve gave him an odd look that Bucky couldn’t quite place. “You’re just stressing yourself out more,” Steve said gently. “I’m sure the bus will be here soon.”

Sure enough, as soon as Steve said it, the bus came round the corner and Bucky huffed dramatically. “Of course it shows up right as you say that,” he said, annoyance lacing his tone.

Steve’s lips curled into a smirk. “Magic,” he whispered heavily.

The two of them scampered up into the bus and found an empty seat not too far from the doors. “You wanna see some magic?” Bucky asked as he settled into the seat beside Steve.

Steve grinned up at him and chuckled. “Sure.”

“Alright, completely unrelated to the magic trick I’m about to do, but what’s your favorite kind of granola bar?” Bucky asked innocently.

Steve thought for a minute before responding. “Any of the ones with raisins, I guess.”

Bucky yanked his hand out of his pocket and held two raisin granola bars in front of him proudly. “Ta-da!

Laughing quietly as he took one of the bars, Steve attempted to seem playfully shocked as he responded, “Wow, Barnes. And here I was thinking I was the magician.”

Bucky leaned his head against the bus seat and chuckled. “See, that’s where you were wrong. You’re just my assistant in training,” Bucky teased.

“As long as I get a cool outfit, I’m not complaining,” Steve replied as he ripped open the granola bar.

They both chuckled again before falling into a comfortable silence eating their bars. The rest of the bus ride was calm and short, and Bucky only checked his watch once to make sure they weren’t too far behind schedule.

By the time they made it to the airport and checked their luggage, it was fifteen minutes till nine and Bucky was still rushing for no reason. 

“Slow down,” Steve whined as he ran to catch up with Bucky who was jogging to get to the security line. 

Bucky slowed as they approached the line, giving Steve a half-apologetic look. “Sorry, I just want to get through security so that we don’t have anything else to worry about.” 

Steve came to a halt beside Bucky and let out a heavy breath. “Well, it should be pretty quick since we don’t have any luggage to deal with.” 

“Yeah, I know.” Bucky nodded and continued to move down the slow-moving line. 

Once they got to the front of the line, Steve and Bucky removed their shoes and jackets and waited to walk through the metal detector. “Do you have elephant socks?” Bucky asked from behind Steve, looking down curiously at Steve’s feet. 

Steve looked down at his purple elephant socks and huffed as the small line moved forward. “You don’t like them?” 

“I didn’t say that,” Bucky said quickly. “I think they’re cute.” 

“Thank you,” Steve replied confidently before being ushered through the metal detector. Steve walked through quickly with no trouble and grabbed their things from the other end before turning around to watch Bucky go through. 

Bucky stepped through calmly and immediately knew his arm wasn’t going to go unnoticed by the machine. Even though he was expecting it, the obnoxious beep from the detector still startled him. 

The man standing by the machine quickly led Bucky away and explained that he was going to have to be patted down. 

“No— Wait— It’s just my arm, see?” Bucky held his meta; arm out to try and explain, but it was no use as the man indicated a place in the floor where he should stand. 

Glancing back at Steve, Bucky obeyed and stepped aside to where the man was pointing. Steve was standing to the side with their shoes and watching tiredly, wishing he could help but knowing that there was nothing either of them could do. 

Once the man was satisfied after patting Bucky down, he gave Bucky’s arm a quick, intrigued look before stepping aside. “You’re good to go, sorry about that.” 

“That’s alright,” Bucky replied, forcing a small smile and nodding as he headed over to where Steve was waiting for him. 

“They didn’t make you leave your arm?” Steve asked sarcastically as he gave him his jacket and shoes. 

Bucky rolled his eyes and moved over to a bench to put their shoes on. “No, and it’s a good thing I didn’t let Tony add a gun to it.” 

Steve chuckled and tossed his jacket next to him before pulling on his sneakers. 

Bucky finally seemed to relax a bit as they walked through the huge airport looking for a place to grab food. “Wait, let’s make sure we know where our terminal is first,” he said as Steve started listing off places they could go. 

Steve shrugged and trudged after Bucky through the rest of the airport until they found it. “Can we _please_ go get breakfast now?” Steve asked heavily.

“Yeah.” Bucky turned on his heel to lead the way back, checking his watch nervously. “We have forty-five minutes and then we have to be back here.”

“Alright, as long as I get something to eat,” Steve replied, exhaustion hanging on his words.

“The magic granola bar wasn’t enough?” Bucky huffed playfully.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Shut up, I see bagels.”

They ate their bagels quicker than Steve would have liked, but he couldn’t finish the whole thing anyway. “I don’t think they’ll let you bring that onto the plane, Steve,” Bucky said as Steve packed the remaining half of his bagel into a bag.

“Why not? I’ll just say it’s my purse if they ask about it.” Steve shrugged, clearly not nervous by the fact that now they might have reason to stop him from getting right on the plane.

Bucky sighed and followed Steve out of the bagel shop. With Steve now leading the way, he headed straight for a bookstore that he had noticed earlier.

“C’mon, Bucky! We have time, don’t we?” Steve pleaded, tugging gently at Bucky’s elbow like a child. 

Bucky glanced down at his watch and sighed. “Fine, but only ten minutes,” he huffed.

Steve grinned and dashed into the little shop, Bucky following slowly behind him. Bucky wandered nervously around with Steve who was flipping slowly through the books. “Do you really plan on getting a book, Steve?” Bucky asked as Steve handed him the bag with his bagel so that he could look at the books better.

“You don’t go to a bookstore with plans to buy a book,” Steve explained as he pulled a book from one of the shelves. “You just go to look at the books and hope you come across a good one... like this one!” Steve held up the book and clapped his hands around it. 

Bucky sighed and followed Steve over to the desk to pay. “But what if the book turns out to be really bad? You haven’t even read any of it yet.”

Steve chuckled, his attention straying from the front desk as he wandered to the side. “You just have to hope the book is good from the description.” He shrugged, his eyes scanning through a display of socks.

“We don’t have time for this,” Bucky protested, looking down at his watch nervously. 

Steve gave him a look and pulled two pairs of socks from the rack. “But look at these! Now we can have matching pride socks!”

Bucky took a pair of the socks curiously as Steve skipped to the front desk at last. The socks were decorated with little rainbow polka dots and had different background colors: a blue pair, and a red pair. He couldn’t help but smile as Steve paid, his nervousness being replaced by a wave of other emotions. Steve knew that Bucky was gay, he had for years, so the fact he went straight to the pride socks wasn’t too surprising. Steve had gotten him a pair of rainbow gloves once and even though they didn’t fit him, Bucky had always kept them around. 

“Which color do you want?” Steve asked him as they left the building, holding out the two socks.

Bucky shrugged thoughtfully. “I’ll take the red ones.”

Steve chuckled and stuffed the blue socks into his pocket, offering the red pair to Bucky. He took them and smiled, his nervousness returning as his mind raced. It wasn’t too strange that Steve had also gotten himself a pair, but it still made Bucky feel all twisted inside for no reason. 

Bucky glanced over as they walked down to the flight terminal and noticed Steve fidgeting nervously with his hands. “Are you okay?” Bucky asked softly as they took a seat to wait.

Steve’s hands stopped and he mumbled, “Yeah, I’m good.”

“You sure you don’t want to eat the rest of your bagel before we get on the plane?” Bucky offered him the small bag and Steve took it thoughtfully.

“Fine. How long do we have?”

Bucky looked at his watch and replied, “Ten minutes, but I’m sure they won’t be exactly on time.”

“Then why were you so stressed?” Steve retorted loudly as he pulled out the half of a bagel.

“Because you never know! Sometimes they’re on time so you can’t take risks.” Bucky leaned back in his chair and slipped the socks he had been carrying into his pocket. 

Steve chuckled and bit into his bagel. “I’m pretty sure the only risk you’ve taken this month was when you got spicy fajitas last week.”

“What?” Bucky retorted offendedly. “My job is taking risks, Steve!”

“I meant outside of work,” Steve mumbled back, half-way through a bite of bagel.

Bucky rolled his eyes. “I can be very risky outside of work, I’m just stressed about the flight right now.”

“Whatever Mr. risk-taker,” Steve teased as he crumpled up the bag from his food and tossed it into a trash can. 

“I hate you,” Bucky scoffed quietly.

Steve smirked and leaned back in his chair. “Shut up, you love me.”

That’s true, Bucky thought to himself before saying calmly, “You wish.”

The two of them fell into a comfortable (but also quite awkward) silence, and a few minutes later Bucky heard their flight number being called. He pulled out their tickets and gave Steve his as they rushed into the line to board the plane. Bucky found their seats, letting Steve climb in first so he could take the aisle seat.

“I think we should have carried our luggage on,” Bucky murmured after a minute to break the silence.

Steve rolled his eyes and relaxed into the seat. “Stop thinking about it, if we had carried it on you would have been freaking out about the bags not fitting all morning.”

Bucky chuckled at how well Steve knows him. “That’s true, I’m sure it would have been fine though.”

“And I’m sure our bags will be fine leaving us for a few hours,” Steve chuckled back.

“I don’t know, I’m pretty sure they have separation anxiety,” Bucky mocked sarcastically. 

Steve laughed and sunk further into his seat. “If you can’t stop worrying about them for the next five hours, I’m going to switch seats.”

“Good luck with that.” Bucky looked down the plane at the people still filling up the seats and paused. “Hey, I think that’s Agent Coulson.”

Steve leaned over with his head just above Bucky’s shoulder to peek down the aisle and gasped. “It is! I haven’t seen that guy in forever! Do you think he’s going to the wedding?”

“I’d assume so.” Bucky sank back in his seat and turned to face Steve who was still straining over the seats to see. “Stop that, you’re going to hurt your neck,” Bucky said as he put a hand on Steve’s shoulder to push him back into the seat. “You can go say hi to him later.”

Steve sunk back into his seat and huffed, pulling his arms tightly against his sides. “Fine.”

Bucky chuckled lightly, knowing how much Steve looked up to Agent Coulson. He wasn’t sure why Steve admired him so much, but ever since Steve had learned about the agent he was obsessed with him. 

Once they were in the air, the second the seatbelt light turned off Steve was jumping out of his seat. “Hey, watch it!” Bucky grumbled as Steve tried to squeeze past his knees and the seat behind him. Steve stood back as Bucky got out of his chair to stand in the aisle, immediately rushing by to where Agent Coulson was seated.

Bucky chuckled and followed Steve to keep an eye on him. In the past, Steve had had trouble forming intelligible sentences around Agent Coulson, so Bucky thought it was best to be there and help him out if needed.

“Hey, Agent Coulson, I’m Steve Rogers,” Steve was saying rapidly, clearly trying his best to keep his voice down. “Big fan, you probably don’t remember me but—”

“I remember you,” Coulson interrupted, a small smile hidden in his expression.

“Oh—” Steve almost stepped back in shock. “Awesome,” he whispered under his breath. “Are you going to Tony and Pepper’s wedding?”

Coulson nodded and shifted slightly in his seat to look up at the two of them better. “Yep, don’t have any other reason to go to California.”

“I do,” Fury commented suddenly from the window seat.

“Yes I know, Sir,” Coulson replied, his tone suddenly serious for a moment.

Steve’s eyes were wide as he watched the little interaction between the two agents. 

Knowing that Steve would stay there through the whole flight if he could, Bucky gently tapped Steve’s shoulder to get his attention. “C’mon, Steve. We should get back to our seats.”

Steve looked at him sadly and nodded. “Alright. It was great talking to you, Mr. Coulson.”

Coulson smiled. “Yeah, see you at the wedding.”

Steve let Bucky lead him away and back to their seats, noticing the small cart that was heading down the aisle towards them. When the cart passed them, Steve got a few nut packets and ignored Bucky when he said he didn’t want anything. He opened up a bag of nuts before sinking into his seat and offering some to Bucky.

“I already told you I didn’t want any,” Bucky whispered lightly as he waved Steve’s hand away.

Steve shrugged. “Just wanted to be sure.”

Not even ten minutes went by before Bucky sighed and grabbed a handful of nuts from Steve before he could react. 

“Hey!” Steve whined quietly, pulling the bag away as soon as he realized what was happening. “You said you didn’t want any.”

Bucky laughed as he swallowed heavily. “You knew I was lying, though. That’s why you got so many.”

Steve laughed, not even trying to deny it. “I just know you that well,” he said mockingly.

“Sometimes it scares me how well you know me,” Bucky chuckled back, folding his arms as he leaned back into the chair.

Steve yawned and tilted his head slightly against the back of the chair. 

“Are you seriously going to fall asleep?” Bucky asked, not surprised.

Steve shrugged. “Yeah, it’s a five-hour flight and you’ve made this morning extremely stressful.”

“Sorry about that,” Bucky whispered gently. “At least we made it through, right?”

“Yeah,” Steve chuckled. “Just don’t wake me up.”

Bucky smirked. “Right. I’ll just leave you on the plane and hope they take you back to New York.”

“Perfect,” Steve replied sarcastically, too tired to pay attention.

Bucky let Steve doze off as he stared thoughtfully at the back of the seat in front of him, almost jumping when he felt something heavy rest on his shoulder. He laughed at himself when he realized it was Steve, and he relaxed slightly into the familiarity of his friends’ head against him. They hadn’t been this close since the incident the week before, and Bucky missed it. Even though Bucky knew Steve hadn’t consciously leaned against him, it still gave him a warm feeling inside.

Never being able to fall asleep himself, Bucky found other random ways to pass the time. They had made the mistake of not even bringing a backpack with things to do on the plane, but Bucky didn’t mind too much. Steve slept for the majority of the flight and was up an hour before they were scheduled to land.

Steve stretched as he woke up and slowly lifted his head off of Bucky’s shoulder. “Oh, sorry,” he mumbled quickly when he noticed what had happened.

“No, you’re fine,” Bucky assured him calmly, smiling at Steve as he leaned back into his seat.

They sat there together in a calm silence for the rest of the flight, occasionally exchanging annoyed looks whenever the back of their seats got kicked by a kid behind them. The captain’s voice soon sounded through the sound system, announcing their arrival to California. “Buckle up, Steve,” Bucky said as the captain’s voice (that had just been telling them to do so) was cut off.

Steve huffed as he clicked the buckle over his lap. “Safety, safety. Blah, blah.”

“You’d get yourself killed without me watching you all the time,” Bucky stated, fiddling with the strap on his seat belt.

“That’s only half true,” Steve chuckled back. “I get by fine while you’re at work.”

Bucky rolled his eyes in a friendly manner. “That’s only because you don’t do anything while Sam and I are gone unless someone’s free to hang out with you.”

Steve shrugged. “I like company,” he said with a straight face.

They both dropped the subject and fell quiet. Steve stared out the window as they landed, relieved that he would finally be able to stretch his legs. Once they were off the plane, Steve realized just how crowded the airport was and felt stress and anxiety take over. Steve didn’t usually mind crowds, but he knew he could get easily lost with how small he was. He squeezed his way between two people and lost track of Bucky. He immediately panicked, but when he looked to his left, Bucky was right next to him again. 

Even though Steve had lost him for less than a minute, he didn’t want to risk it again. Steve reached out to grab Bucky’s arm, but instead of the fabric of his sleeve, he felt Bucky’s flesh palm and cool, rough fingers as he closed his hand around them without thinking. His heart raced when he realized what he’d done, but felt weird about pulling away now so he held on firmly. Bucky seemed startled by it, but after a minute he shifted his arm and wrapped his fingers around Steve’s smaller hand. 

The crowd opened up a bit as they stepped off an escalator, but their hands stayed awkwardly interlocked between them. When they finally made it to the baggage claim, Bucky released his hold and walked away towards the suitcases as they filed out slowly. 

“Here’s yours,” Bucky said at last, breaking the silence and grabbing the small beige suitcase before it slid by.

Steve took it from Bucky quietly before turning to watch as the luggage passed by them. 

“I don’t see mine,” Bucky said quietly after a minute, watching as suitcases continued to file out of the shoot.

Steve chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Stop stressing, there’s still more coming,” Steve replied calmly. “I bet it’ll show up in five... four... three... Oh, there it is!” He stopped counting and stepped forward to stop the black suitcase from sliding past them. “Told you!”

Bucky huffed gently as he took the suitcase from Steve, who was struggling to pull it onto the floor. “You didn’t even get to finish counting,” Bucky commented in a teasing way.

Steve winked at him as they walked away towards the large sliding doors across the room. “Magic,” he murmured confidently.

Bucky hummed as they left the building. “Maybe you should leave the magic to me,” he said calmly after a second. “Especially since my magic involved food.”

“True.” Steve nodded in agreement as they paused in the sidewalk. “Speaking of food, have you heard from Sam or Rhodey?”

Bucky checked his phone quickly before shaking his head. “No, I’m guessing they’ll just meet us at the restaurant as we had planned.”

Steve shrugged as he looked down the street. “Yeah.” He paused for a minute to look up at Bucky. “Should we go drop our things off and get settled into the hotel first?” he suggested.

“Okay, yeah. We have some time to kill so we might as well,” Bucky responds, walking to the edge of the sidewalk to get a taxi.

Their taxi driver didn’t seem in the mood to talk, so they rode the whole way to the hotel in awkward silence. After checking into the hotel and finding their room, Steve and Bucky decided to change before going out.

Steve threw on a blue button-down shirt and his pair of jeans, while Bucky left his red t-shirt on and just changed out of the sweatpants he had been wearing. Once changed, Steve sat on the far bed with his phone and contemplated texting Sam, but decided against it. When Bucky came back into the bedroom, Steve realized his hair all tangled from not brushing it all week. “Are you going to brush your hair?” Steve asked, tossing his phone behind him on the bed as he slid off.

Bucky looked down questioningly and ran his hand nervously through his hair. “What? Is it bad?”

“No, it’s not bad,” Steve said quickly. “It’s just really knotted up since you don’t brush it.”

Bucky sighed and tugged at his hair. “I don’t think I brought a brush.”

“That’s okay, you can use mine,” Steve offered, rushing to the side of his bed to grab the comb from his bag.

Steve handed it to him and Bucky took it appreciatively. “Thanks,” he murmured, giving it a curious stare before heading into the bathroom. Bucky stared at himself in the mirror for a minute before pulling the brush slowly through his thick hair. Not even halfway through, the comb got caught in his hair and he tried to yank it out.

“Oh dear,” Steve chuckled from the doorway, watching Bucky with amusement.

Bucky looked up startled, holding his hand behind his head and trying not to look like he was struggling. “Shut up,” he mumbled, trying to take the brush out of his hair again.

A minute later, Steve sighed and joined Bucky by the sink. “You’re just going to make it worse,” he chuckled, standing on his tiptoes to reach the comb stuck in Bucky’s hair.

Bucky rolled his eyes and let go. “What are you doing?”

“Helping you! I’ll be right back, I need to grab a chair.” Steve scurried out of the bathroom and returned a second later with one of the chairs from the bedroom.

Bucky looked at it questioningly and asked, “Are you going to stand on it, or do you want me to sit?”

Steve thought for a minute before setting the chair in front of Bucky who was facing away from the mirror. “I’m standing, so turn around.”

Bucky obeyed and placed his hands on the bathroom counter to steady himself as Steve took hold of the brush again. “Ow!” he cried suddenly, reaching up to protect his head from Steve’s pulling.

“Stop that, this is the only way we’re going to get all the tangles out.” Steve shoved Bucky’s hands away and Bucky let him, grumbling in protest as Steve continued to pull.

“Maybe I should just get a hair cut,” Bucky whined, cringing as Steve yanked the brush out.

“Don’t say that. You’re long hair’s gorgeous,” Steve complained, pulling the brush through again.

Bucky’s mind got distracted for a second thinking about how Steve had just called him gorgeous; well, Steve had said his hair, but Bucky took that to mean him as well. That’s ok, though, because that is how Steve had meant it.

Steve yanked again, accidentally pulling Bucky’s head into his chest. Bucky grumbled and let Steve push his head back up. “That hurt! Can’t you be more gentle?”

Steve grunted loudly and pulled again. “Quit complaining, there’s just a couple more.”

Bucky gave up on verbally protesting, so he resorted to making pained facial expressions at Steve in the mirror.

“Stop making such dramatic faces, you’re making me feel bad.” Steve frowned at him through the mirror as he pulled on another knot out.

“You should feel bad, this really hurts,” Bucky whined back.

Steve pouted playfully and put his hands on Bucky’s broad shoulders. “This is the only way, Buck.”

“No, it’s not, we can cut it.”

Steve shook his head and went back to pulling at the last of the knots. “We’re not doing that! The knots are almost out.”

Bucky gave up and stopped protesting, flinching whenever Steve yanked too hard. Eventually, Steve ran the brush easily through Bucky’s hair a few times and grin. “All done,” he said, tossing the comb onto the counter and patting Bucky’s head.

Bucky turned around to face Steve on the chair and sighed. “Thanks, I guess,” he mumbled, watching as Steve’s smile grew when he spoke.

“You’re welcome!” Steve replied cheerfully, hopping off the chair and pulling it back into the bedroom.

Bucky followed Steve out of the bathroom and sat on the edge of the bed.

“Should we just head to the restaurant? I still haven’t heard from Sam,” Steve said after a minute, stuffing his phone into his back pocket.

Bucky looked up from where he was sitting on his bed and nodded. “Yeah, do you want to call him first?” he asked, hopping off the bed to grab his jacket.

Steve shrugged and went to follow Bucky out the door. “No, I’m guessing Sam’s already there,” he chuckled. 

“Alright.” Bucky paused as he started to close the door behind them. “Wait, Steve, where’s your hoodie?”

“What?” Steve turned around to peer back into the hotel room. “I thought I had put it... Oh.”

“Didn’t you take it off in the Taxi?” Bucky asked as they re-entered the room to double-check. 

Steve looked up at Bucky and nodded slowly, not even bothering to check his bag. 

“Damnit, Steve,” Bucky grunted, running his metal hand through his long hair. “Did you bring any other coats?”

Steve shook his head and sighed. “No, I left the one you gave me at the apartment because I didn’t want to lose it.”

Bucky hung his head in thought before sitting by his bed to dig through his suitcase. “Wait, the leather one I gave you?” 

“Yeah,” Steve shrugged and belly-flopped onto Bucky’s bed, hanging off the edge so he could see Bucky. “Why?”

Bucky pulled something out of the suitcase and tossed it at Steve’s face. “Idiot, I packed it for you.”

“Why’d you do that?” Steve asked, grabbing the jacket off his head to hold it to his chest.

Bucky thought of a quick excuse. “Oh, I probably thought it was mine or something,” he said, folding everything back up that he had taken out of his suitcase. “Why wouldn’t you be worried about losing your other jackets? That’s a pretty stupid way to go about your life.” Bucky tried his best to sound casual, not sure why he didn’t want Steve to know he hadn’t accidentally brought it.

Steve shrugged and pulled the leather jacket around him without using the sleeves. “You gave me this one and I really like it.”

Bucky’s heart felt warm at that statement, making it hard for him to hide his smile. “Well then, you better not lose it.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan to,” Steve replied softly as they left the hotel room, this time not turning back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry not sorry about the long chapter. I have so much for you all but editing takes forever so I’m sorry :’)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey hey! I’m adding a little scene at the airport where they’re going through security and stuff so keep an eye out for that! (I’ll let you all know when it’s up, though) :)

“When are Sam and Rhodey going to be here?” Bucky asked impatiently as he and Steve sat in their booth at the restaurant.

Steve peeked over a bread roll he had just bitten into to look at Bucky. “I don’t know,” he mumbled as he swallowed. “I still haven’t heard from them.”

&esmpBucky grunted and pulled out his phone. “I’m calling them.”

“Wait, Sam or Rhodey?” Steve questioned, pausing before biting into the bread again.

“Rhodey. I hate talking to Sam on the phone,” Bucky replied quietly.

Steve nodded and gulped his food heavily. “You hate talking to Sam in general.”

Bucky rolled his eyes and held his phone up to his ear, tapping his foot and looking around impatiently. The phone never rang, though, as it went straight to voicemail. Bucky frowned and clicked his phone off instead of leaving a message. “It went right to voicemail,” he grumbled as he stuffed it back into his pocket.

“Here, I’ll try Sam’s phone,” Steve suggested as he finished his roll. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and dialed Sam’s number, rolling his eyes at Bucky’s grumbling as it began ringing.

Steve waited, but it soon went to voicemail too, so he hung up. Sighing, Steve looked up to Bucky and shrugged. “It rang, but Sam didn’t pick up.”

“Wait, didn’t Clint drive down with them?” Bucky asked after a minute, resting his elbows against the table heavily.

“Yeah, I think so,” Steve said thoughtfully, scrolling through the contacts on his phone. “I’ll call him.”

Bucky nodded and dropped his head into his hands, waiting as Steve brought the phone back up to his ear. “Nothing?” Bucky asked after a moment as Steve dropped his phone onto his folded up jacket beside him.

“Nothing,” Steve confirmed, leaning back into the seat. “Should we be worried?”

“No, I’m sure they’re fine,” Bucky sighed, dropping his face to stare at the table. 

Steve’s stomach grumbled and he glanced at the remaining rolls. “Should we just order without them? Or should I keep eating these buns?”

Bucky tilted his head up and shrugged as he checked his watch. “Let’s give them forty-five more minutes and if they still aren’t here, we’re eating without them.”

Steve sighed and grabbed another roll. “Alright, forty-five minutes.”

During that time, a waiter came to check on them three times to make sure they didn’t want to order. The fourth time he came by, Steve was too hungry to wait any longer and Bucky didn’t care enough to stop him.

“No, looks like our friends have ditched us,” Steve said when the waiter asked if they were still waiting.

Bucky shrugged. “We’ll just get it to go if that’s alright,” he said, ignoring the sad look Steve was giving him.

The waiter nodded and took their order, walking off and leaving Steve to pout at Bucky. “Stop that.” Bucky folded his arms and leaned back into his seat. “This place is really crowded and I want to get out of here.”

Steve sighed and gave in, fiddling with his hands in front of him as he stared off thoughtfully. “Are you not worried about them at all?” he asked after a minute, tilting his head slightly in Bucky’s direction.

“Nope,” Bucky stated, returning the head-tilt dramatically.

Steve rolled his eyes and dropped his head onto the table. 

Right as the waiter walked away after giving them their food, Steve’s phone began to ring. He answered immediately when he realized it was Sam, struggling to pull his coat on so he could follow Bucky as he spoke into the phone.

“Hey, Sam, where are you? We tried calling but you didn’t pick up. Are you guys in California yet?” Steve asked quickly, not giving Sam the time to answer between questions.

“Steve, stop talking,” Sam cut in. “We took a small detour and lost reception for the past few hours, but we’re on our way back.”

Steve sighed into the phone as he rushed out the door behind Bucky. “We were kind of worried about you guys!” he grumbled as they started down the sidewalk. 

Bucky fell into step beside Steve and leaned in to shout, “ _Steve_ was worried, not me!”

Sam grunted something in response, but Steve had pulled his phone away and didn’t catch it. “When will you be getting here?” Steve asked Sam after waving Bucky away.

“Hopefully by tomorrow morning,” Sam answered calmly. 

Steve heard someone whine in the background and frowned. “Who was that?”

“What? No one,” Sam said quickly. “We’re all good, see you tomorrow!”

“Wait—” Steve began to protest, but the beep from Sam hanging up cut him off.

Steve grunted and shoved his phone into his pocket. “They took a detour! We’ll be lucky if they even make it to the wedding at all!”

Bucky laughed and swung the bag of food into his other hand. “I’m a little sad that Clint and Rhodey might not make it, but the joy I feel from Sam possibly not being there tops everything else.”

Steve rolled his eyes and quickened his pace to keep up with Bucky. “Where are we going to eat our food?” he asked after a minute.

“I don’t know.” Bucky shrugged and started looking down the dark streets. “Oh, I forgot to get us drinks,” he added quietly, peeking into the bag even though he knew there was nothing there.

“There’s probably a gas station nearby that we can stop at,” Steve suggested as they crossed the street.

Bucky nodded. “Okay, yeah. Let’s just keep walking forever until we find one then?” he asked sarcastically.

“Sounds good to me,” Steve agreed, oblivious to Bucky’s sarcasm.

“I wasn’t being serious, Steve,” Bucky chuckled, pulling out his phone. “I’ll look one up.”

—————

“Which one of these is yours?” Bucky asked as he pulled the two boxes and plastic silverware out. They gave up on finding an actual table or something to eat their food at and had settled on sitting on the curb outside of the gas station after grabbing a couple of sodas.

“I don’t know, open them up. Do you think I have x-ray vision?” Steve replied sarcastically, setting his drink on the pavement and reaching over to take one of the containers.

“Yeah, I thought you did, actually,” Bucky scoffed calmly, holding back the urge to roll his eyes.

Steve huffed and opened up the box on his lap, taking a minute to figure out what it was before closing it back up. “I think this one’s yours, it looks like it’s got beef,” he said, offering it to Bucky who had just closed the other container up.

“Yeah, cause this one doesn’t,” Bucky stated as they switched boxes.

They fell into a comfortable silence, but Bucky was only poking at his food and not eating it. 

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked through a bite of food.

Bucky shrugged and held up his fork. “The meat looks kind of pink, but I’m sure it’s fine.”

Steve rolled his eyes, setting the plastic silverware down to wipe a napkin across his mouth. “You don’t have to eat it if you think it’s raw, just push it all aside and eat the rest.”

“No, it’s actually barely pink at all.” Bucky stabbed his fork into a cut-up piece of beef and shrugged again. “Yeah, I’m sure it’s okay.”

Steve sighed and took a large bite of rice. “Don’t come complaining to me when you get food poisoning.”

Bucky paused for a minute before shoving the food into his mouth and swallowing heavily. “Alright, if I start throwing up, I’ll be sure _not_ to tell you.”

Steve gulped and turned to see Bucky’s face, trying to decide if he was joking or not. “Wait, I was joking, please tell me if you start to feel sick, like _ever_.” Steve emphasized the last word seriously, raising an eyebrow at the chuckle that came from Bucky in response.

“Don’t worry, Steve. I was joking too.”

“Oh,” Steve took another bite of food awkwardly. “I knew that.”

Bucky laughed and tapped Steve’s foot with his. “ _Sure_ ,” he mocked.

“Shut up,” Steve mumbled as they fell back into a pleasant silence while they finished their food.

————

When Steve and Bucky got back to the hotel, Bucky immediately went to change into pajamas and get ready for bed.

“I don’t feel great, I think I’m just going to go to bed,” Bucky said tiredly when he got back from the bathroom.

Steve gave him a questioning look from where he was sitting on his bed, still dressed and not tired at all. “What’s wrong?”

Bucky shrugged and climbed into his bed, giving Steve a small smile before he shut off his lamp. “Nothing, just a small stomach ache.”

Steve furrowed his eyebrows and leaned forward slightly. “Do you think it’s from the meat?”  
Bucky shrugged again and sighed. “I don’t know... I’ll be fine, I just need to sleep.”

Steve nodded slowly. “Alright.” He hopped off his bed and grabbed some pajamas from his suitcase. “If I’m asleep and you wake up in the middle of the night feeling worse, please wake me up.”

“Yeah, I will.” Bucky rolled onto his side before adding, “Goodnight, Steve.”

Shuffling towards to bathroom, Steve stopped at the doorway for a second. “Night, Buck.”

By the time Steve was done getting ready for bed, Bucky had already fallen asleep so Steve decided against watching TV. He crawled under his covers and stared at the ceiling thoughtfully, not able to sleep while his mind. He and Bucky had been getting along fine all week, and the trip was going well so far; well, aside from when Steve accidentally grabbed Bucky’s hand. Steve wanted to bring it up with Bucky, but he knew that explaining what had happened would just make it all more awkward.

Steve sighed heavily and grabbed his phone to check the time, but got distracted by pictures that Tony had posted earlier that day. Most of them were just him in his iron man suits joking about how he was going to wear them to the wedding, but there was one, really sweet picture of him and Pepper.

After about an hour of aimlessly scrolling through his phone, Steve quietly got up and turned on the TV. He turned the volume down and climbed back onto his bed, switching through the channels and leaving it on some nature show he found. Steve couldn’t pay attention to the show for much longer than a few minutes, though, because his thoughts kept wandering and thinking about Bucky. 

The nature show soon ended so Steve went back to switching through the channels for something else to watch.

“Steve?”

Steve jumped at the sound of Bucky’s voice and impulsively threw the remote in surprise. The remote hit the carpet a little ways away from Steve’s bed but Bucky ignored it. “What are you doing up?” he asked quietly, pushing his blankets aside and sitting up on the edge of his bed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” Steve whispered back, looking down at his fidgeting hands awkwardly.

Bucky sighed, flipping his lamp on and standing to shut off the TV. “You should sleep, it’s almost midnight.”

Steve nodded slowly and lifted his head slightly to peer at Bucky’s pale face. “I can’t,” he mumbled quietly.

“What do you want me to do? Hold your _hand_?” Bucky asked sarcastically as he turned away from the TV unsteadily.

Steve froze with his eyes locked with Bucky’s, his hands stopping where they had been fidgeting in his lap. Bucky seemed to realize what he had said too late as he stopped walking suddenly with his head hung awkwardly. They stayed staring at one another for what felt like forever, and neither of them were quite sure what to say, or do.

An awkward minute later, Bucky shifted and picked up the remote from the floor. He gave it a small turn in his hand before offering it back to Steve.

“You look really pale,” Steve said to break the silence as he took the remote and tossed it on the nightstand next to his bed. “How are you feeling?”

Bucky shrugged and stepped back to sit on the side of his bed. “Fine,” he replied blankly, crossing his arms and pulling them tightly around his body.

Steve sighed and gave him a worried look. “You look like crap.”

Bucky tilted his head and fell back onto his pillow, pulling his legs up with him and stretching them out over the sheets. His face tightened slightly as he pulled his arms closer around his stomach.

Steve huffed loudly and hopped off his bed. “Why can’t you just be honest with me?” he mumbled as he trudged into the bathroom. He came back a minute later with a damp rag and went right to Bucky’s bed to place it gently on his forehead.

Bucky managed a small smile when the cool towel hit his warm skin. “Thanks,” he murmured tiredly.

Steve grumbled in response as he pushed Bucky’s legs under the covers. He did his best to tuck the blankets around Bucky, having to climb over his chest for a second to grab the other side of the sheets. “Does it help at all?” he asked tiredly, leaning his hip against the side of the bed.

“Yeah, thanks,” Bucky mumbled back, giving Steve a soft smile.

Steve smiled back as he reached up to feel the rag, sighing when he realized it was no longer cold. “Let me get you a fresh one,” he murmured, pulling the towel away and starting to turn away.

“Wait,” Bucky said quickly as he reached out and grabbed Steve’s arm.

Steve turned around in surprise, staring down at his arm nervously. After a minute, he relaxed slightly and slid his free hand over the one Bucky had around his wrist.

Letting go of Steve’s arm, Bucky shifted his hand so their palms connected. “I’m fine,” he whispered as Steve took a step closer so he didn’t have to stand so awkwardly anymore.

Steve raised his eyebrows questioningly as his mind began racing. “Shut up. If anything, you look even paler right now.”

Bucky’s head fell back into his pillow and he rolled his eyes, too tired to argue.

“I’ll be right back,” Steve said softly, shifting to place Bucky’s hand over the covers and squeezing it briefly before pulling away. Bucky let out a heavy sigh when Steve pulled his hand away, but Steve just smiled and hurried into the bathroom to grab a fresh towel.

By the time Steve made it back, Bucky was already dozing off again. Steve gently sat down on the edge of the bed and dabbed lightly at Bucky’s hot forehead with the rag. After a while, Steve assumed Bucky was asleep so he started getting up to go to bed

“Hey,” Bucky mumbled tiredly, his eyes barely opening to peer at Steve through the dim lighting.

Steve settled back on the bed and gave Bucky a small smile. “Sorry, I thought you were asleep,” he whispered, taking a colder part of the towel and going back to blotting the side of Bucky’s forehead. 

Bucky nodded slowly and closed his eyes again. “Don’t go yet,” he hummed, bringing his hand up to rest on Steve’s arm.

“I won’t,” Steve murmured back promisingly. He put the no longer cold rag on the nightstand and curled himself against Bucky on the edge of the bed. Bucky’s arm slid around his shoulders comfortingly and Steve smiled: he had missed this closeness between them, even though he knew things would probably be somewhat awkward in the morning. 

“Goodnight, Steve,” Bucky mumbled, barely opening his mouth to speak.

Steve grinned and tucked his head against Bucky’s arm. “Goodnight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :’)


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I added a lil scene at the airport of then going through security, so maybe go check that out? :3 It’s in chapter 13 right after the little bus ride and stuff. :)

When Bucky woke up the next morning, the first thing he noticed was that Steve wasn’t by his side anymore. He stretched under the covers before throwing them aside, noting that he no longer felt nauseous. Sitting up to look around the dimly lit room, Buck realized Steve wasn’t in the room at all and must have been in the bathroom. Hopping off of his bed, Bucky began digging through his suitcase to find an outfit.

“Hey,” Steve murmured as he slipped out of the bathroom, closing the door quietly behind him. “How are you feeling?”

Bucky looked up from his suitcase and gave Steve a small smile. “Good, I don’t feel sick at all anymore,” he said truthfully. He wanted to say something to Steve about last night, but everything that came into his mind didn’t feel right so he stuck to just digging through his clothes some more.

“That’s good,” Steve replied cheerfully as he threw his pajamas on top of his suitcase, clearly not having bothered to dry his dripping wet hair from his shower.

Bucky nodded. “Yeah, how’d you sleep?” he asked quietly, finally deciding on an outfit as he pushed himself up from the floor.

“Fine,” Steve chimed, still smiling as he jumped onto his bed.

Bucky chuckled and left to shower, pausing before closing the bathroom door to glance back at Steve laying splayed out on his bed. He had a good feeling about the day, but he wasn’t quite sure why. Steve also seemed to be in a good mood which just made Bucky smile even more as he showered and got dressed.

“I called Sam to see if he wanted to join us for breakfast,” Steve informed Bucky when he came back from the bathroom, still laying on his back with his phone propped up on his stomach.

Bucky gave him a questioning look as he stuffed his dirty clothes into his bag. “And?”

“Well,” Steve started, sitting up to turn in Bucky’s direction. “They decided to stop at a waffle house this morning and won’t be here till this afternoon, so we’re on our own.”

Bucky laughed under his breath and skipped over to the other side of his bed to sit down and face Steve. “Perfect! I definitely think we’re better off without them, especially since they keep ditching us.”

Steve huffed lightly, hiding a smile as he leaned back and held himself up with his arms behind him. “Where do we want to go for breakfast?”

“I think I saw a Starbucks while we were walking around last night,” Bucky said after a thoughtful minute.

Steve nodded and hopped off the bed, grabbing his jacket from the nightstand as he did so. “Alright, let’s do that.”

Bucky hummed in agreement and pulled his coat off one of the chairs as they left the room.

——

The streets were way busier than they had been the night before, but Starbucks was surprisingly empty. Steve ordered himself a pumpkin spice latte and croissant, while Bucky got a coffee, blueberry muffin, and a cinnamon roll for them to share. Steve went to grab them a table in the corner of the cafe with their pastries while Bucky paid.

“The drinks will be a few minutes,” Bucky stated when he approached the table, taking his muffin as he sat across from Steve.

“Okay,” Steve mumbled through his croissant.

Bucky unwrapped his muffin and paused before biting into it to ask, “Are you supposed to bring presents or something to weddings?”

“Huh?” Steve lifted his head from his croissant and shrugged. “How am I supposed to know? I’ve never gotten married before.”

“No, I—” Bucky rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Have you ever been to one, though?”

Steve shook his head, fiddling with a folded up napkin absentmindedly. “No, but they don’t really seem like the kind of thing you bring presents to.”

“I agree...” 

“James Barnes?” a waiter called from the desk.

Bucky got up and rushed over to collect their things, murmuring a quick, “Thanks,” before returning to the table and setting the drinks down carefully.

Steve chuckled under his breath as he reached for his latte and picked the conversation back up. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to get married real quick and find out how that all works then, huh?” he said sarcastically. 

Bucky gave him a curious look, but Steve was too absorbed in sipping slowly at his latte to notice. “Yeah,” he chuckled in response after a second. “Cause we can’t just look it up.”

“Hey.” Steve held his hands up defensively. “You’re the one who was starting to freak out about it.”

“I was not _freaking out_ ,” Bucky huffed, folding his arms and pouting dramatically

Steve laughed and pulled a piece off of his croissant. “Maybe you weren’t yet, but you were going to.”

Bucky rolled his eyes and leaned against the back of his chair. “I wasn’t planning on it, but I’ll keep in mind that you think I freak out about everything.”

“I never said that!” Steve whined, swallowing a bite of croissant before continuing. “You just tend to overreact sometimes.”

“Mhm, do you think I was overreacting last night?” Bucky asked teasingly; although, he was genuinely curious at this point.

“No,” Steve stated firmly. “You had food poisoning, Bucky. If anything, you weren’t reacting enough.”

Bucky huffed and leaned forward to take a bite of his muffin. “Right, cause you would have preferred me crying and complaining all night about it.”

“Exactly.” Steve sighed sarcastically, not wanting to continue their bantering as he finished his croissant. 

————

“Should we try and find a park or something?” Bucky asked as they left the Starbucks with their cinnamon roll and drinks. “We have a couple more hours before we should go get ready.”

Steve shrugged and fell into step beside Bucky. “Sure, I’m guessing we won’t see Sam and the others until the wedding at this point.”

“That’s not a bad thing,” Bucky chuckled, earning a small glare from Steve as they turned a corner on the sidewalk. He pulled out his phone and found directions to a small park just a few blocks away, making sure he kept a slow pace for Steve. “Oh, while I’m on my phone, we should make sure we don’t need to buy presents.”

Steve chuckled and dropped behind Bucky for a second as a group of people passed them. “Alright, you do that.”

After a minute, Bucky let out a heavy breath and shoved his phone back into his pocket. “Okay, so I don’t think we don’t need to get them anything.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think so,” Steve laughed back, giving Bucky a playful bump with his shoulder as they turned down a path into a small park.

There were no picnic tables nearby, so Steve and Bucky found a small clump of trees that they were able to sit under comfortably. Steve bumped against Bucky’s left shoulder as he sat down next to him in the grass. “Sorry,” he said quickly, but Bucky didn’t seem to care.

“You’re fine,” Bucky said honestly, offering the small bag with the cinnamon roll to Steve. 

Steve took it appreciatively and grinned as he set his latte down in the grass beside them. The cinnamon roll was covered in a thick frosting, making it impossible for Steve to tear off any of it without getting sticky sugar all over his fingers. “Uh,” he mumbled awkwardly as he tried setting the bag back down without also covering it with the sugar. “Do you want some?” he asked, offering one of the halves to Bucky.

Bucky chuckled and laid his now empty cup in the grass. “Sure.” 

As Bucky took the half of a cinnamon roll, he accidentally grabbed it at a part surrounded by frosting. They both laughed at the situation and ate it in silence, realizing too late that they would have a hard time cleaning the stickiness off their hands.

“Did we grab any napkins?” Steve asked as he finished his bit of cinnamon roll, knowing what the answer was going to be.

Bucky carefully double-checked the bag and shook his head. “No, I didn’t think about it,” he mumbled.

Steve shrugged and resorted to licking his fingers while Bucky did the same. Wiping his hands across his pants a few times to dry them off, Bucky turned to see Steve yawning with his head hung. “How late did you stay up last night?” Bucky asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Not too late, I just waited for you to fall asleep and then dozed off.” Steve shrugged and leaned his head against the tree.

Bucky rolled his eyes as he collected their empty cups and garbage. “So, what are we going to do for the next couple of hours?” he asked after a minute.

“I don’t know.” Steve pushed himself away from the tree to stretch his back. “We could just walk around some shops?”

Bucky nodded and stood up, instinctively offering his hand to Steve to help him up. Steve took Bucky’s hand and pulled himself up, almost hitting Bucky’s chest by the force of being pulled forward. After regaining his balance, Steve stepped away and shot a quick look around them to make sure he hadn’t left anything.

“Alright, let’s go,” Steve chimed a second later, pulling his jacket closer to him and giving Bucky an expecting look.

Bucky chuckled and whipped around dramatically towards to street, pausing for a second to make sure Steve was behind him before continuing.

——

“Oh, hey, what happened to those candles Nat and you got?” Bucky asked curiously as they passed by a candle shop, having already been walking down the street for some time.

Steve laughed. “I’ve been burning one all week! Did you really not notice?”

“No you haven’t,” Bucky said in disbelief, slightly distracted as he took note of the street signs,

“Yes, I have!” Steve insisted. “You and Sam are so oblivious sometimes.” Steve peeked into a gift shop briefly before they moved on to wait at a crosswalk.

Bucky huffed but didn’t say anything more as he watched the walk sign impatiently.

Once they crossed the street they continued walking aimlessly down the next street, pausing now and then to glance into one but never going in.

“What are we even doing?” Bucky sighed heavily after peeking into yet another gift shop.

Steve shrugged and looked across the street to see if there was anything more interesting on the other side. “I don’t know, I think we just picked a bad street to wander down.”

Bucky looked down at the street signs and stopped Steve by the edge of the sidewalk. “Well, do we keep going, or find a different street?” 

Steve turned to face Bucky as his eyes continued to scan the streets. “I feel like we shouldn’t get lost before the wedding, but maybe we could just head back down the other side of the street?” he suggested, grabbing a street sign pole and swinging himself around it.

Bucky chuckled and grabbed Steve’s shoulder to prevent him from swinging around again. “You’re so childish,” he muttered teasingly under his breath. “But yeah, let’s go down the other side, I guess.”

Once Bucky let go, Steve swung himself around one last time before shooting off down the street, slowing to a skip for Bucky to catch up. 

“Please don’t give yourself an asthma attack, Steve.” Bucky wrapped an arm around Steve to slow him down as he strolled up behind him.

“Oh my god, Steve?” 

Steve whipped around at the sound of his name from behind him, breaking out of Bucky’s arm that was still around him in the process. Seeing Natasha and Bruce rushing up to greet them with their hands linked, Steve grinned. “Hey, Nat!”

Natasha looked from Steve to Bucky a few times with a raised eyebrow before pulling her hand away from Bruce to give them both a quick hug. “How are you two doing?” she asked as she pulled away, trying to hold back a wide smirk. 

“We’re good,” Bucky replied for both of them, not noticing the way she had asked. “How are you guys?”

Bruce took a step forward from where he was still hanging back slightly and bumped Nat’s shoulder. “Pretty good,” he shrugged. “Aside from Nat not letting me look around the gift shops.”

Natasha gave him an apologetic look and said, “Sorry, but you would have found something extremely dumb and made me put it up in our apartment.”

“Wait,” Steve interrupted before Bruce could retaliate. “You guys live together?”

Nat shook her head and returned her attention to Steve and Bucky. “No, not yet. Bruce is hopefully moving in in the next couple of weeks.”

Steve nodded thoughtfully. “Cool, and the gift shops are pretty dumb.”

“Right!” Nat chimed, thrilled that he agreed with her.

Bruce sighed heavily and gave Bucky a hopeful look.

“Don’t bring me into this,” Bucky said, taking a small step back to avoid getting involved. “They’re all hideous, though,” he added under his breath, quiet enough that only Steve could hear.

Steve chuckled, which made both Bruce and Nat stare at him questioningly. Shaking his head quickly, Steve asked, “Are you guys staying at the hotel up the hill?”

Natasha laughed before answering. “Yeah, I think we’re going to head back there after lunch, do you guys want to join us?”

Steve looked up at Bucky to see if he had any interest in joining them before shaking his head. “No, that’s alright. Thanks, though.”

“Oh, c’mon,” Nat begged, giving them a dramatic pout. “Double date!”

Both Steve and Bucky laughed nervously at that comment but eventually gave in to joining them. 

“Pizza, or tacos?” Bruce asked as they continued walking down the street in a group. They all collectively agreed on tacos and followed Bruce down a separate street. 

“Have you been here before?” Nat asked after a minute as she followed close behind Bruce, who was leading the way quite confidently.

Bruce shook his head and held up his phone over his shoulder tho show her the map he was looking at. “Nope!”

Nat chuckled and managed to slip beside him on the narrow sidewalk, peeking over his shoulder to watch the map with a thoughtful look.

Walking awkwardly behind them, Steve and Bucky exchanged curious glances as they turned down an empty alleyway. Bruce had his head down and was staring intently at his phone, looking up frequently to make sure he wasn’t going to walk into anything. “Bruce, you’re getting us lost,” Nat muttered to him, looking around nervously and pausing to frown at Steve and Bucky briefly.

“No, it’s right around the corner.” Bruce picked up the pace and disappeared around the corner, making Natasha sigh before rushing after him.

Bucky and Steve exchanged a nervous look before following after them. The alley opened up into a small courtyard filled with picnic tables and a small food truck parked in the far corner. The place was mostly deserted, aside from the people in the food truck and one other person sitting at a table. “Are you guys sure this is a good idea?” Bucky asked nervously as they headed towards the truck.

“I think we should give it a try,” Bruce said, shrugging as he continued to step through the picnic tables. “The few reviews it had on yelp were really good.”

Steve accidentally brushed up against Bucky’s hip while moving to avoid hitting one of the picnic tables and felt his body brush up against something hard. “Sorry,” he said instinctively before processing that something was under Bucky’s belt. “Wait.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow at Steve as they joined Natasha and Bruce by the truck. “What?”

“Do you have a knife with you?” Steve asked quietly and glared disappointedly at Bucky’s hip.

Bucky shrugged and placed his hand above the place at his side. “You never know when I’m going to need to protect you from an eagle or something.”

“An _eagle_?” Steve repeated questioningly.

Bucky laughed as he looked down at Steve in amusement. “Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised if an eagle tried to swoop down and pick you up one of these days,” he chuckled, moving his hand away from his hip and nudging Steve in a teasing manner. “Besides, I bet Nat has way more than I do.”

Natasha whipped around at the sound of her name from where she was reading the menu. “Huh? I have way more what?”

“Knives,” Bucky explained naturally as Steve rolled his eyes. 

“Oh, yeah, I bet I do.” Natasha bent down and swiftly pulled several knives out of her boots. “I’ve got at least four, but—”

Bruce gasped loudly when he turned around and both Nat and Bucky froze. “What’s going _on_?” he cried, trying to keep his voice down to avoid drawing any attention to them.

“I brought more knives than Bucky,” Natasha stated before continuing to show off her blades.

“What—” Bruce paused and looked around them nervously before grabbing Natasha’s arm cautiously. “Why did you bring knives at all? Can you _please_ put them back?”

Natasha gave him a sad look before slipping the knives back into her boots. “Fine.”

Steve looked expectantly up at Bucky who sighed heavily and slid his blades back under his belt.

“Alright,” Bruce huffed, relaxing a little as he turned back to the menu. “What do you all want?”

They all eventually decided to get an assortment of tacos to share, and Steve and Bruce took the two full plates of tacos to one of the picnic tables farther away from the truck

“Wait a minute,” Steve started as they set down the plates. “Where’s Bucky and Nat?”

Bruce turned around and immediately spotted them in the far corner doing knife tricks. “There they are,” he said, pointing to the corner and letting out a tired laugh

Steve laughed and rushed past Bruce to get them. As soon as Bucky noticed Steve, he caught his knife and tucked it away quickly.

“What are you doing?” Natasha questioned Bucky, flipping two of her knives before realizing Steve and Bruce were right there. “Oh, hey,” she said quickly as she dropped her hands and blades to her sides.

Bruce shook his head and chuckled. “Please stop playing with knives, we brought the food over there.” He turned briefly to point generally at the table with his hand as Natasha slipped her knives away. 

Nodding, Nat smiled and followed close behind Bruce to the picnic table. As they all sat down, Bruce divided up the tacos evenly between the four of them. “How did you even get the knives through security at the airport?” he asked cautiously before biting into one of his tacos.

Bucky grinned and pointed at his metal arm, making Steve sigh and shake his head.

“That’s so smart,” Nat said approvingly, trying to avoid the question herself.

“Nat?” Bruce insisted after a quiet second. “How did you get them past security?”

Natasha just grinned as she took a minute to swallow her food. “I have my ways,” she murmured at last.

Bruce gave her a worried look but decided to drop the subject and continued to eat his taco. 

“I’m surprised they didn’t notice that you had them,” Steve said thoughtfully to Bucky as they ate. “Especially since they had to pat you down and everything.”

Bucky shrugged and smirked as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I’m very sneaky,” he whispered mysteriously.

Steve rolled his eyes and laughed before biting into his last taco.

“Oh,” Bruce said loudly after a while as he folded up his napkin and tossed it onto the now-empty paper plate. “I’ll be right back!” He shot up and slipped away towards the food truck before anyone could say anything else.

“What’s he doing?” Steve asked curiously as he gathered up their garbage to throw away.

Nat shrugged and stood up. “I have no idea.” 

They finished picking their stuff off the table and threw out their trash as they waited for Bruce to come back from the food truck. When he finally came rushing back over, he was holding a to-go box of tacos. “Why did you get more tacos?” Natasha asked him as they started to make their way back down the alley.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you, but I told Scott we would pick him up from the airport,” Bruce replied cheerfully.

“And when are we doing that?” Natasha questioned

Bruce checked his watch as his face became suddenly nervous. “In thirty minutes! We have to go!” He dashed out of the alley and turned down the street, leaving Natasha to give Steve and Bucky a short goodbye before rushing after him. 

“You need to tell me these things!” Steve and Bucky heard Nat call after Bruce as she caught up to him, making them both chuckle.

“Well,” Bucky started as they headed slowly down the street in the direction of the hotel.

Steve cut him off and held out his phone that had started buzzing in his pocket. “Hold on, it’s Sam.”

Bucky sighed heavily as Steve spoke into the phone. 

“Hello?” Steve listened for a moment, but Bucky couldn’t hear what Sam was saying on the other end.

“Alright, cool, we’ll meet you guys there,” Steve chimed after a minute. “Okay, bye.” He gave his phone a brief look and hung up before shoving it back into his pocket.

“They’re at the hotel?” Bucky asked as they crossed the street.

Steve nodded. “Yeah, we don’t have anything better to do than to meet up with them, right?”

“No, I guess not,” Bucky shrugged and continued up the hill towards the hotel. “Did he give you their hotel room number?”

“Oh, no. I can just text him and ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who’s ready for some best friend Sam and Rhodey content? Cause there’s only a little bit in the next chapter so don’t get all excited. :(


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Before you read this chapter go check out the end of chapter One to see some incredible artwork that @astriloquiis (on instagram) created! They’re illustrating my story now and there’s also a piece at the end of this chapter🥰 Alright that’s all, enjoy! :)

“One two four, one two four,” Steve murmured to himself as he scanned the hotel rooms for the right number.

“Here it is, Steve,” Bucky chuckled from a few doors down where Steve was looking.

Steve stopped and whipped around to see the hotel room that Bucky was pointing to. “Oh, oops, I missed it,” Steve mumbled skipping back down the hall to join Bucky.

Bucky rolled his eyes and laughed. “Yeah, you think?”

Steve huffed and shot Bucky a brief glare before knocking heavily on the door. The door opened slightly and Sam’s head peeked around to see them. “Hey, guys, be quiet, Clint’s asleep,” Sam explained as he pulled the door open all the way to let them in.

“What? Haven’t you guys been here for like, fifteen minutes?” Steve questioned quietly, looking around the room to see Clint splayed out on the far bed with his hood up and cinched around his face.

Sam shrugged and threw himself on the closer bed next to Rhodey who was typing distractedly on his phone with his legs crossed in front of him. “Yeah, but Clint hasn’t been sleeping well in the car...” Sam murmured back. “Actually, he hasn’t really been sleeping at all over the past couple of days.”

Bucky raised a questioning eyebrow at him and stood awkwardly in the middle of the room with Steve. “Why hasn’t he been sleeping?”

“I don’t know,” Sam huffed lightly.

It took Steve and Bucky a minute to realize that Sam and Rhodey were wearing matching waffle house t-shirts, and it took them even longer to notice that Clint’s hoodie had the same pattern as the t-shirts. “Sit down,” Sam ordered after a second, pointing to the chairs across from the bed by the TV. “You two look really awkward just standing there.”

Bucky and Steve did so appreciatively and Steve chuckled. “Thanks. Cute matching shirts, by the way.”

Sam glanced down at his shirt and back up at Rhodey who tossed his phone onto the bed beside him. “Thanks,” Sam chimed. “Clint didn’t like any of the other matching t-shirts we got him, but he likes the hoodie.”

“There are _more_?” Steve asked, raising an eyebrow and leaning back in his chair.

Rhodey looked up and nodded as he joined the conversation. “Yeah, you guys can have the extras if you want, since Clint doesn’t want them.”

“No, we’re good,” Bucky said quickly, not wanting to get them started when he noticed how full their suitcases looked by the side of their bed.

Rhodey shrugged and glanced down at his phone that was continuously buzzing and lighting up.

“Who’s texting you?” Sam asked curiously as Rhodey picked up his phone to shut it off completely.

“It’s just Tony,” Rhodey replied quietly.

Sam raised an eyebrow and gave his phone a questioning look. “Do you need to talk to him?”

“No, he’s basically just ranting to himself and I already told him I’d be there early,” Rhodey explained, shrugging as he dropped his blank phone behind him on the bed.

They fell into an award silence for a minute before Steve broke it by asking, “So, how was your road-trip?”

Sam glanced at Rhodey before responding. “It was good,” he shrugged, trying to hold back a grin.

Steve raised an eyebrow and huffed. “Just good?”

Rhodey looked up and chuckled. “No, it was great.”

“Well, that’s good.” Steve nodded approvingly with a small smile.

Sam chuckled. “Yeah, how was your flight?” he asked, directing the question mostly to Steve.

Steve glanced up at Bucky who was leaning back in his chair and making it very clear he didn’t plan on joining the conversation. “It was good,” he replied. “But we almost missed the plane,” he added sarcastically after a second.

“Wait, really?” Rhodey piped up, leaning forward to hear about it.

Bucky let out a small laugh and sat up in his seat. “No, he’s just being a jerk.”

Sam gave Steve a serious look and murmured dramatically, “No way, that’s so unlike you, Steve.”

Steve folded his arms and huffed. “Yeah, right, like you two aren’t ever jerks.”

Bucky shrugged. “Well, being a jerk is just part of Sam’s personality.”

Steve shot Bucky a look and struggled to hold back a laugh. “You’re never a jerk then?

“Nope,” Bucky huffed. “You just call me one to make you feel better about yourself.”

Steve rolled his eyes and raised an eyebrow at Bucky, completely forgetting what they had been talking about in the first place. “Right, so I’m not actually a punk then?

“Oh, no,” Bucky corrected quickly. “You’re definitely a punk.”

Sam let out a loud breath to get Steve and Bucky’s attention. “Are you two done yet?”

Bucky and Steve exchanged one last look before shifting to face Sam and Rhodey again. “Yeah,” they replied in unison.

Rhodey laughed at them and pulled out his phone. “Hey, do you guys want to see some of the pictures we got?”

———

“Wait, what time is it?” Steve asked suddenly, stepping away from where they were all hovering above Rhodey as he scrolled through his camera roll. They had already looked through all of his pictures from the road-trip and were just scrolling through all of his other pictures.

Rhodey clicked out of the photos app and checked the time on his phone. “Oh, shit,” he mumbled under his breath. “It’s already two.”

Steve’s eyes widened and he whipped out his own phone to confirm the time. “We’ve been here for an hour?” he cried in disbelief. “We have to get ready!”

Bucky stood awkwardly next to the bed and looked around the room. “Are you guys going to wake up Clint?” he asked as he and Steve collected their jackets and heading back towards the door.

“Oh, do you mind doing that for us?” Rhodey headed off into the bathroom with his suit and gave them a pleading look.

“Fine,” Steve mumbled, rushing back into the room past Sam who was digging through his suitcase on the carpet. Bucky stayed back in the doorway and waited for Steve, tapping his foot impatiently.

“Clint! _Wake up_ ,” Steve whispered aggressively, grabbing Clint’s shoulders and gently shaking him.

Clint woke with a start and sat up in surprise, looking around him frantically and relaxing a little when he took in his surrounding. “Oh, hi, Steve. What’s going on?” he asked groggily.

Steve sighed and took a step back. “We have to get ready for Tony’s wedding that’s in an hour,” he explained as Clint sat up and pushed himself to the side of the bed.

“Oh,” he grumbled as he hopped off the bed. “Okay.”

Steve joined Bucky by the door and glanced back around for a minute to see Clint picking up his suitcase to follow after him. Shrugging, Steve and Bucky stepped briskly down the hall with Clint following tiredly behind them with his hoodie still cinched around his face.

“Do you have a room you need help getting into?” Bucky asked when they reached their room, giving Clint a questioning look as Steve got the door open.

Clint shrugged and pushed past Bucky once Steve pushed open the door. “No, I don’t think so,” he stated, stepping passed both of them and heading straight for the bathroom with his bag. Clint shoved his hood back as he trudged into the room to reveal a tangle of oily hair covering his head.

Steve and Bucky exchanged confused glances as they closed the door behind them. They heard Clint’s bag hit the bathroom floor as the door slammed shut, clearly settling into their bathroom to get ready.

“What just happened?” Bucky asked in confusion as he pulled off his coat.

Steve shook his head and sighed. “Clint just took our bathroom.”

They both exchanged a look and laughed at the situation, not sure what they were supposed to do now.

“Should we just wait for him to be done?” Steve asked after a minute as they both pulled out their suits from their luggage

“We have to leave in less than thirty minutes, Steve,” Bucky reminded him. “I don’t think we have time to just sit around and wait.

Steve nodded and stepped over to the far side of the room behind his bed. “Alright, just don’t look over here till I’m done,” he mumbled with his back to Bucky

Bucky turned around to face the wall and pulled his suit off the bed. “Okay, I’ll just change over here, then.”

Steve looked over his shoulder to make sure Bucky was facing away before facing the closed curtain again and pulling off his t-shirt. They both changed quickly, but once Steve was dressed, he couldn’t get his tie done properly.

“Bucky? Are you done?” Steve asked awkwardly as he dropped both ends of his tie in despair.

“Yeah,” Bucky chuckled from the other side of the room. “Do you want help with your tie?”

Turning around to see Bucky facing him with amusement, Steve swallowed heavily. He had his white shirt all buttoned up and his hair had fallen messily around his face, making it hard for Steve to focus on what he had just been asked. “Oh, yeah,” he mumbled quietly.

Bucky smirked and pushed himself away from the wall to step over to Steve, who was standing completely frozen in place.

“Here,” Steve stuttered, lifting the ends of the tie and offering them to Bucky as he stepped up in front of Steve.

Taking the tie, Bucky began twisting the two ends together in a way that Steve couldn’t understand for the life of him. Steve looked up at Bucky as he worked on the tie, watching his eyes as they focused on what he was doing. “There,” Bucky stated, at last, dropping the tie over Steve’s chest and giving it one last tug to secure it in place.

Steve looked down before Bucky could notice he was watching him and murmured a soft, “Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Bucky chimed back, watching Steve as he turned around to take his comb from the nightstand.

Pulling the brush through his hair, Steve did his best to style it with the help of his hands. Trying to style your hair without being able to see it, though, isn’t the easiest thing to do.

Watching Steve struggle with a look of amusement, Bucky picked up Steve’s phone from the bed where he had tossed it before changing.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Steve asked nervously, holding up his hands and expecting Bucky to start videoing him.

Bucky chuckled and held the phone out with it on selfie mode. “Relax, do you want to see what you’re doing to your hair?”

“Oh.” Steve chuckled and nodded quickly. “Yeah, thanks.”

As Bucky held the phone in front of him, Steve sighed and looked up at Bucky who was smiling confidently. “I can’t see it, Bucky,” he mumbled. “It’s too high.”

Bucky frowned and moved to sit up next to Steve so he could see what he was focusing the camera on. “Sorry about that,” he whispered once he had it repositioned on Steve’s face.

Laughing awkwardly, Steve peered into the phone screen and combed his hair back before trying once again to style it. This time (now that he could actually see himself), he eventually got it in a way he was happy with and lowered his hand to his lap.

“It looks good,” Bucky hummed as he tossed Steve’s phone back on the bed and stood up.

A small smile formed across Steve’s lips before he noticed Bucky’s hair, giving it a curious look as his smile softened slightly. Bucky chuckled and pulled a hair-tie from his wrist. “Don’t worry, I got it,” he reassured, pulling his hair back and wrapping g the hair-tie around it in a messy ponytail.

Steve cringed and balanced his comb on one knee distractedly. “I was going to say it looked nice,” he whispered, shaking his head with a small frown as a section of hair fell out of Bucky’s ponytail. “But now it’s a mess, and it’s already starting to fall out of your hair-tie again.”

Bucky sighed and yanked the hairband out of his hair before walking off to his side of the room. “What should I do with it now, then?”

Standing up to follow Bucky, Steve sat on the other side of the bed so he could watch Bucky rummage around in his bag. “I don’t know, will you let me try something?”

Bucky looked up and sat back on his knees, seeming to forget whatever he had been looking for before. “Okay, sure,” he mumbled after a moment, rising to set himself down on the bed beside Steve.

Grabbing the comb from where he had tossed it beside him, Steve scrambled up onto the bed to balance himself awkwardly on the covers behind Bucky. Once Steve had settled himself on the bed, Bucky handed him the hair-tie over his shoulder. Steve took it and wrapped it around his wrist before pulling gently at Bucky’s hair with the comb. There weren’t nearly as many knots as there had been before (since they had brushed it that morning), so it only took Steve a few minutes till he was satisfied with it.

“Can I ask what you’re going to do?” Bucky questioned as Steve tossed the comb onto the bed and sectioned off the part of his hair that had fallen out of the ponytail earlier.

Pulling the remaining hair into a loose bun, Steve gave Bucky’s shoulder a light pat. “No, you just have to wait and see,” he chimed quietly as he proceeded to braid the hair that he had separated from the bun. Once Steve finished the thin braid, he pulled it against the side of Bucky’s head and undid the loose bun, tucking the ends of the braid in with the rest of Bucky’s hair and twisting it up to form a tight, neat bun.

“That hurts,” Bucky whined as Steve twisted the hairband around his thick hair.

“Sorry,” Steve whispered back, pulling the hair-tie gently to loosen it and give it some more volume.

After fiddling with a couple of free strands of hair, Steve hopped off the bed and stood in front of Bucky to see what he had done. “You don’t have to love it, but I think it looks really good,” Steve said quietly before moving to grab his phone from the bed.

Steve offered the phone to Bucky, who took it nervously and opened it up to the camera. He moved the phone from side to side to see what had happened to his hair from all angles and chuckled. “If you were anyone else, you’d be dead right now,” he huffed, reaching up to feel the braid above his ear.

Steve grinned and took his phone back as Bucky looked up at him. “But do you like it?” he asked, realizing he was standing awfully close to Bucky with their knees practically touching.

“Yeah,” Bucky whispered in response. His lips curled into a soft smile as he straightened his back, putting more distance between them as they searched each other’s faces. They both became frozen in place like they had been the first morning after Bucky had moved in, making Steve hold back a shiver at the thought

Steve wasn’t sure how to react, so he remained stock-still. The smile plastered to Bucky’s face was slowly fading as his eyes glanced down at Steve’s lips briefly before searching his eyes again. Steve’s stomach twisted and he felt himself lean forward instinctively, not entirely sure of what he was doing.

“Okay, all done,” Clint stated loudly as he threw the bathroom door open, making Steve and Bucky whip around and break away in a flurry. Luckily, Clint hadn’t noticed anything strange happening since he had his head down and was fiddling with his (freshly manicured?) nails.

Once Steve and Bucky pulled themselves together, it took them a minute to fully take in the new Clint that had just presented himself. For starters, his face no longer showed how completely exhausted he was and his hair was combed and neatly styled on the top of his head. It almost looked like he had given himself a haircut, but Steve and Bucky didn’t notice that at all compared to everything else. Even Clint’s attitude had changed drastically. He held himself up tall and confidently, like the way he had trudged into the bathroom with his head down tiredly less than thirty minutes earlier, had never happened at all.

Steve swallowed in shock at the sight before him and pulled himself together. “Uh, well, should we go, then?”

Clint nodded readily and shut the bathroom door behind him, waltzing over to the door quickly with Steve slowly following after grabbing his blazer. Sighing heavily, Bucky picked his jacket up from his bed and did one last check to make sure he had everything before following after Steve and Clint.

The three of them stepped briskly down the halls to Sam and Rhodey’s room right as Rhodey was rushing out behind Sam and slamming the door. Sam raised a curious eyebrow when he noticed Clint’s new appearance, quickly heading off the elevator. “What happened to you?” he asked after giving Clint a long look.

Clint looked down at his jacket, checked his hair with the palm of his hand and checked his pants before answering. “What do you mean? Is it my hair?”

Rolling his eyes, Sam turned around to leave the elevator after Rhodey who seemed suddenly very stressed out.

Clint ran up beside Sam again and gave him a serious look. “What? Is it my makeup?”

“Your what?” Sam questioned, slightly taken aback.

“Oh, did I ruin my eyeshadow already?” Clint sighed and hung his head.

Stuttering to come up with a reply, Sam glanced back at Steve and Bucky who had been listening in amusement to the conversation, but even they now seemed confused. “I— No, your makeup is fine,” Sam said, at last, not wanting to upset Clint since he seemed to be in a good mood.

Clint seemed slightly reassured and lifted his head as they left the building. Steve shivered as the chill air hit him suddenly, pulling his blazer shut while they rushed across the street after Rhodey who was already waiting for them at the car.

“C’mon, hurry up!” Rhodey shouted, pulling the door open quickly and shoving Steve into the backseat with Bucky close behind him.

Clint held up his hand as he approached the door and waved Rhodey away coolly. “I can get in myself,” he stated, making Rhodey sigh and let go of the door to let Clint in. Nodding gratefully, Clint calmly settled himself into the seat beside Bucky who was mumbling quietly about having to be in the middle.

Rhodey glared back at him as he and Sam hopped into the front seats.“Stop whining, we’re going to be late if we don’t leave _now_.”

Sighing, Bucky leaned back into his seat and Sam started the car.

**Lovely artwork by @astriloquiis on instagram (@astriloquiis-art on tumblr). 🥰 This is so perfect I can’t...... I mean, look at them! Bucky’s hair was Perfect before he Had to go and mess it up. *Chefs Kiss***

**Do I have to talk about how incredible their art is every time I post? Yes. ******


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepperoni’s wedding! There will be a bit of nice pepperoni content, but not a ton since Steve and Bucky aren’t exactly having a great time and they need attention.
> 
> I haven’t triple-edited this chapter yet, so there may be more mistakes than usual.

As they turned onto the highway, Clint made a low grunt and threw his head against the headrest. “Wake me up when we get there, I’m going to take a nap,” he mumbled as he shut his eyes.

Rhodey glanced back and him and sighed, turning on the radio to a quiet jazz station.

The ride had already started off awkwardly quiet, with the occasional, short conversations between Sam and Rhodey. Steve and Bucky, though, seemed pretty content on being silent.

After a few minutes, Steve let out a small sigh and leaned his head against the cold window, looking out at the trees and buildings as they sped down the highway. He couldn’t stop his mind from replaying what had happened between him and Bucky in the hotel room over and over again, giving him that same, twisted feeling inside that he’d finally pushed aside from the week before.

Steve completely zoned out thinking about it and trying to piece things together but got nowhere. He was so entirely lost in his thoughts, that he only noticed Bucky shifting closer to him when their shoulders became pressed together. Lifting his head away from the window, Steve froze and stared at the back of Sam’s seat awkwardly. He was too nervous to look at Bucky and try to figure out what was going on, so he stayed frozen in place.

Right as Bucky was shifting himself so their thighs were practically touching, Sam caught Steve’s eye in the rearview mirror and let out a loud, sarcastic laugh. “Hey!” he shouted, looking over his shoulder briefly to shoot them a look. “No, no, no! Not in my car!”

Steve’s breath caught in his throat and he held himself still. The weight from Bucky leaning against him remained constant and Bucky barely reacted to Sam’s voice.

“It’s not your car, Sam,” Rhodey mumbled, looking down at his phone as he typed rapidly in response to the many messages he was getting from Tony.

Sam huffed and shot another glare at the two of them. “Well, not in the rental, then!”

Bucky finally spoke up, keeping his voice down and shrugging his right shoulder to nudge Clint who had fallen asleep and let his head fall against Bucky. “Clint fell asleep on me,” he grumbled.

Steve let out a small sigh of relief but maintained his stiff posture. He still felt the awkwardness hanging heavily around them and wasn’t sure how he should react.

“Oh,” Sam grunted, looking back yet again and finally noticing the sleeping Clint at Bucky’s side. Rhodey chuckled with his head still hanging over his phone, but no one had the nerves to ask whether he was laughing at them or something on his phone.

“What happened to your car if this is a rental?” Bucky asked quietly after a moment to try and break the tension that had settled between them. Well, everyone except Rhodey.

Rhodey shook his head and gave the armrest a small pat. “She broke down,” he murmured sadly before becoming distracted by his phone once again.

The five of them stayed practically silent for the rest of the drive, aside from Rhodey occasionally mumbling questions like, “Why did Tony want me to be his best man?” or, “Do you think Happy would switch places with me?” Throughout the ride, Rhodey also continuously glanced up to see where they were before whispering to Sam to speed up.

“This is exactly why you _didn’t_ drive,” Sam grumbled after Rhodey checked the map pulled up on Sam’s phone for the third time.

Rhodey huffed and the car grew quiet once again. Even though Steve knew Bucky was only leaning against him to get away from Clint, he still felt awkward sitting there pressed up against him. The whole situation was a bit awkward: even if there hadn’t already been tension between Steve and Bucky, the way they were sitting so close together was awkward in and of itself. Steve could hear and feel every breath Bucky took, making it hard for him to think about anything else except for Bucky.

The thought of getting to the wedding and having to act fine all night nagged at the back of Steve’s mind, but he shoved it away and settled on focusing on Bucky’s breathing instead. It calmed him, in a way. Even though he remained tense and nervous, it calmed his thoughts and kept his mind from racing.

“We’re almost there,” Sam stated at last as they turned off the highway and down a long, winding road. “You have to wake Clint up, Bucky.”

Bucky let out a heavy sigh and pushed himself into the middle of his seat, pushing Clint up suddenly in the process and waking him up. As the weight from Bucky pressed against him left Steve’s side, Steve exhaled with relief before dropping his head at the quiet that filled his ears and replaced Bucky’s breathing. There were obviously other sounds like their car, and the people around him; but Steve had been so focused on Bucky’s breaths, that not being able to hear them anymore felt like he had just walked out of a loud concert.

“Hey!” Clint grumbled when he got shoved back and hit the door of the car., He rubbed gently at his eyes and sat up in shock before realizing where he was and what he was leaning on. “Shoot...”

Rhodey looked back at him worriedly. “What? Did you forget something?”

“No,” Clint sighed, looking at the side of his hand with a nervous expression. “Did I mess up my makeup?”

“Oh my god, Clint!” Sam groaned loudly. “The first thing you ask when you wake up is if you messed up your _makeup_? Do you _want_ me to leave you on the streets to hitchhike your way back?”

Clint froze and whispered a quiet, “No, okay, I’ll stop.” A second later, though, Clint tilted his head expectantly at Bucky and mouthed silently, “Did I, though?”

Bucky grumbled and glanced tiredly at Clint who was giving Bucky an intense, questioning stare. “No, it’s fine,” Bucky huffed distractedly, turning away to look blankly in front of him.

Clint nodded calmly and turned back around to look outside at their surroundings. “Are we there?” he asked curiously after a minute.

“What do you think?” Sam scoffed back.

Clint thought for a minute and looked around at the buildings around them as they turned onto a narrow road. “Well, are we _almost_ there?” he questioned another minute later, noticing a full parking lot ahead of them.

Sam rolled his eyes and slowed to a stop before turning down one side of the lot. “Just use your eyes, Clint.”

Pulling into a vacant parking spot, Steve hurried out of the car and hopped up onto the sidewalk outside of the building they had pulled up to. Bucky climbed out after him, slamming the door shut before following after the others down a small path towards the sound of music and people chatting.

“I’ll meet up with you guys later!” Rhodey called to the others, taking off the second he spied Tony in the crowd.

Clint trudged along behind Sam while Steve and Bucky followed closely, awkwardly stepping side by side down the narrow path. Nat burst out of the crowd suddenly as the four of them reached the clearing. “Hey, guys! You’re late!” She scolded with her hands on the hips on her crimson dress.

Sam huffed and looked past Nat to try and pick out other familiar faces. “We got distracted, is everyone else here?”

“Yeah, everyone but Thor,” Nat replied, eyeing Bucky’s hair curiously.

Sam chuckled and stepped to the side so they weren’t blocking the path. “That’s probably for the best.

“Mhm,” Nat murmured distractedly. “Bucky? Who braided your hair?

Bucky shifted his feet awkwardly, glancing down at Steve who looked away quickly to avoid eye contact. “Oh, Steve did it,” he grumbled after a moment as Natasha watched both him and Steve intently.

Nat hummed and squinted at Bucky before turning her attention to Clint. “Do you regret going with Sam and Rhodey yet?” she asked him with amusement lining her tone.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sam interrupted defensively.

Clint folded his arms and huffed. “Nat offered to let me go with her and Bruce, but I didn’t want to third-wheel, so I said no. But now, I’m starting to think I would’ve been third-wheeling less if I went with them.”

Sam laughed and gave Clint a sarcastically apologetic look. “That’s not true, besides, we had fun, didn’t we?” he questioned, knowing that Clint wasn’t going to say yes.

Clint just huffed, turning away from them to go mingle with the crowd. “Oh, where’s Bruce?” he asked, turning back around to face Nat again.

Nat shrugged and gave a short wave with her hand. “I don’t know. Somewhere with Scott, I think.”

Nodding, Clint turned on his heel back into the crowd and skipped off.

“C’mon, guys! Get moving!” Tony’s voice carried loudly above all the other sounds, making everyone go quiet and look frantically around.

Nat sighed and did her best to get the attention of as many people as she could. Help me get everyone gathered up for Tony,” she called to Sam, Bucky, and Steve as she took off further down the hill to where everything was set up for the ceremony.

Shooting a quick look at Steve and Bucky, Sam headed off after her as the crowd slowly filed down the path. Steve and Bucky stayed behind awkwardly as people passed to make sure everyone made it down. “There goes Tony,” Steve pointed out, glancing down a separate path to see Tony rushing down. “We should probably hurry.”

Bucky nodded and stepped quickly behind the rest of the crowd with Steve. The other guests were filling in the rows of seats quickly, and Bucky noticed Nat waving at them from the second row.

As the two of them pushed through the crowd down the isles, Steve couldn’t help but wish he could get a seat that wasn’t right up next to Bucky. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be with Bucky, and he definitely didn’t want to ignore Bucky; but with how awkward things were between them, Steve wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep his mind from racing like it always did when things were tense like this between them.

But of course, the moment they got to where Nat was waving them down, she shifted down the row of seats to give them both the two chairs next to her. She seemed a bit upset by something but still grinned as Steve took the seat by her with Bucky right beside him.

“Still haven’t found Bruce?” Steve asked awkwardly as they watched Happy and Tony bantering quietly next to a tree.

Nat sighed and shrugged distractedly. “No, I found him, but he hadn’t saved me a seat,” she explained lightly.

Steve nodded sadly and looked down into his lap, staring at his hands as they fidgeted nervously.

“Are you okay?” Natasha asked him after a minute.

Bucky seemed completely lost in thought, but Steve didn’t mind since he wasn’t sure he could have a conversation with him at the moment. “Yeah, I’m fine,” Steve stated firmly, gripping his hands together to stop them from fidgeting more.

Nat gave him a questioning glance before sighing and leaning back into her chair. When Steve looked back up, he realized everyone was quieting down and Happy was standing proudly in the center of the platform, giving Tony a wide grin before turning away and straightening his face.

The calm instrumental music that had been playing in the background became louder and everyone turned to see Rhodey (the best man() groomsmen and bridesmaids stepping down the aisle towards the platform. Nothing could have prepared anyone for what came next. Steve didn’t know who he had been expecting to be the flower girl, but he definitely hadn’t been expecting Peter. At this point, Steve was too intrigued by the events unraveling before him to pay much attention to the quiet awkwardness between him and Bucky.

Peter was smiling widely in his neat tuxedo and sprinkling the path with flower petals as he skipped down the aisle enthusiastically, occasionally tossing a handful of petals into the guests. Holding back a grin, Tony gave Peter a kind pat on the shoulder as he stepped past him onto the platform beside Rhodey.

The music suddenly changed dramatically right as Steve was able to see Mrs. Potts turning down the path. “Well,” Happy said cheerfully as Pepper stepped up and faced Tony. “First off, I’d just like to say that I think I deserve a lot of credit for all of this.”

Everyone laughed, including Tony, but Happy quickly silenced them so that he could “Get on with the vows".

When Happy finally announced them husband and wife, a huge uproar of cheers and clapping rang through the crowd and everyone stood up, blocking Steve’s view to watch the ending. Steve tried to stand on his tiptoes to see them walk back down the path, but as the quests were now all standing, he couldn’t see past all of their heads.

Seeing that the quests were leaving their seats and making their way back up the hill, Natasha turned back to Steve and motioned to him to follow her. Bucky stepped quickly behind them through the crowd, stopping beside Steve when they noticed Pepper, Tony, and Peter having a photoshoot further down along a clump of trees.

“Such a cute little family,” Nat cooed, folding her arms and smiling fondly.

Steve chuckled and looked up briefly towards Bucky, turned away quickly before Bucky could get the chance to notice.

“Hey!” Tony called suddenly, waving his hands at them and pulling his arm out from around Pepper’s shoulders. “Assemble the Avengers for a group picture!”

Nat gave him a thumbs up and turned swiftly on her heel to find everyone else. “Come on!” she called back to Steve and Bucky as she skipped away. “I can’t find them all on my own, I can’t even find my boyfriend!”

Bucky glanced tentatively down at Steve before sighing and stepping off to help Nat. Knowing he probably wouldn’t be any good at finding anyone through the tall crowds, Steve ran up behind Bucky and followed him awkwardly towards Sam and Rhodey who were chatting near a small bush.

“Picture time,” Bucky grunted at them loudly. “Tony wants us all over there.” He pointed towards where Tony was talking with the cameraman and waved them away.

“Clint!” Sam shouted as he stepped away with Rhodey by his side.

Steve laughed and looked up to see Bucky staring ahead of him unaffectedly. Sighing and looking away awkwardly, Steve noticed Natasha strolling up to them with Bruce, Scott, Strange, Wong, and T’challa following closely behind her. “Really helpful!” she called sarcastically.

Bucky huffed and rolled his eyes as he and Steve strolled up to meet her. “Clearly, you didn’t need our help,” he pointed out with a light chuckle.

Grumbling mockingly, Nat dashed off to talk to Tony and Pepper now waiting patiently back by the trees. As the rest of them approached, Steve spotted Peter standing off to the side and broke away from the group to join him. Steve half expected Bucky to call after him in some way or stop him from leaving, but of course, he didn’t.

“Hi, Mr. Rogers, aren’t you going to be in the picture?” Peter asked as Steve stepped up beside him.

Steve shook his head and watched as the rest of them got situated around Tony and Pepper. “No, I’m not an Avenger,” he sighed heavily.

Peter frowned thoughtfully for a minute before rushing off to whisper something to Tony. When Peter was finished, Tony glanced up quickly in Steve’s direction with an odd look in his eyes. “Rogers!” he called loudly, motioning to Steve to come over.

Stepping tentatively forward, Steve gave Tony a questioning eye. “Yeah?”

“Get in the picture next to Bucky, we’re not going to leave you out.” Tony’s voice was light and cheerful as he waved Steve off towards where Bucky was standing on the corner. Bucky gave him a soft, forced smile as Steve approached him, shifting his feet to give Steve a place to stand.

Once everyone was still, the cameraman began fiddling with his camera and called out people who needed to move in closer. “You, on the end,” he stated firmly, pointing directly at Steve.

Steve nodded to show he was listening before waiting for instructions. “I need you to move in, and you,” the man moved his hand slightly to point in Bucky’s direction. “Maybe put an arm around him or something. Whatever you feel comfortable with is fine.”

Remaining frozen in his spot, Steve tilted his head nervously up to see Bucky giving him an expectant look. Steve sucked in a quiet breath and nudged closer to Bucky who dropped a loose arm around him as he moved in. Steve felt Bucky tense as he leaned in and immediately pulled back slightly. They both felt awkward standing so close but did their best to smile and act natural for the picture.

When the cameraman eventually stated that he had gotten enough pictures, Bucky began to pull his arm away when Tony called out to everyone to hold their places so they could get a picture with Peter and Shuri.

Shuri had joined Peter and they were taking selfies together, not seeming to notice Tony calling to them. Sighing, Tony broke away from the group and ran up to Peter, grabbing his shoulder suddenly and making him jump. “Mr. Stark!” Peter exclaimed in surprise.

“Hey, kid, we want to get some more pictures with you two,” Tony explained, keeping his hand on Peter’s shoulder and pulling him over towards where everyone else was still waiting patiently. “Just a couple more, Jareth,” Tony said hurriedly to the cameraman as he, Peter, and Shuri passed by.

Jareth nodded kindly and waited for the three of them to find places to stand before directing them to get more precisely situated. Once satisfied, Jareth stepped back and lifted his camera from where it hung at his chest to begin snapping photos.

“Wait!” Tony shouted suddenly, holding up his hand and almost hitting Peter’s head who was standing in front of him. “Where’s Happy?”

“I think he went inside to make sure things were ready in there,” Pepper informed him with a sigh, knowing he wasn’t going to let anyone leave till they got him in the picture.

Nodding, Tony squeezed himself out of the group and ran off past Jareth up the hill. Jareth turned to watch him leave before shrugging and spinning back around to look thoughtfully at the rest of them. “Does anyone want some quick couple’s pictures while we wait?” he asked softly, eyes moving to rest on Steve and Bucky.

Steve half expected Bucky to move away, or at least move his arm away, but he stayed put and almost seemed to lean in closer to Steve. Shaking the thought off, Steve turned to look questioningly at Bruce and Nat who were standing still beside Bucky.

“Get some cute pictures of these two,” Steve suggested loudly, taking his hand that wasn’t pressed to Bucky’s side and waving it at Nat and Bruce who shot him a questioning stare.

Jareth gave Steve a curious look and only glanced for a moment at the other two. “Okay, or, I could snap some of you and your boyfriend if you want?”

Nat let out a quiet chuckle and nodded her head quickly as Bucky finally removed his arm from Steve and dropped it awkwardly at his side. “Yes, that would be great!” Nat exclaimed, turning to nod enthusiastically at Jareth.

Steve huffed and shifted nervously away from Bucky. “Shut up, Nat,” he murmured, knowing that Bucky could hear him but not caring. “We’re not together, we’re just friends,” he said a bit louder to the cameraman who was watching the conversation in confusion.

“Ah, alright,” Jareth said after a moment. “Sure seemed like you were, no offense,” he added in amusement.

Nat huffed and folded her arms defiantly. “Don’t they?”

Holding his camera in front of him, Jareth chuckled and asked, “Well, how ‘bout I take your picture, then?” He gestured to Bruce and Nat with the front of his camera and raised a questioning eyebrow.

Natasha laughed and pointed past Jareth. “Thanks, but it looks like our time’s up.”

Turning around, Jareth saw Tony and Happy rushing towards them down the path and huffed amusedly. “Ah, oh well. Next time, then.”

“What’s that mean?” Bruce piped up questioningly.

Jareth smirked and winked almost mysteriously, but didn’t get the chance to say anything as Tony came running up with Happy close behind him. “Okay,” Tony huffed heavily. “Last pictures and then we can all go back up.”

Happy was slightly annoyed at having been dragged away from what he was doing, but smiled for a quick couple of pictures nonetheless. This time, Jareth didn’t stress about getting everyone into perfect positions, and he definitely didn’t try to get Steve and Bucky to stand closer again. “Alright, that’s it,” he said at last, checking the newest picture on his camera one last time before letting it drop and smiling up proudly.

Nodding appreciatively, Tony stepped out of the group before spinning around to face them. “Okay, there are appetizers and drinks up the hill and you can all come inside in about...” he trailed off and turned to shoot Happy a questioning look.

“Thirty min—”

Tony cut him off and nodded. “Thirty minutes, great. Enjoy the appetizers!” And with that, Tony took Pepper’s hand and they stepped away briskly with Happy following close behind.

As everyone broke apart and moseyed up the hill, Jareth joined them and walked closely behind Steve and Bucky. He seemed to be intentionally following only them, but even if that were so, Steve and Bucky wouldn’t have noticed with how much more tense things had become between them. Steve had wanted the awkwardness between him and Bucky to lighten up at least a little by the end of the night, but with the way things were going, he was pretty sure that wouldn’t happen.

Once they were back up to the little clearing, Peter and Shuri went straight off to the picnic table where drinks and snacks were set out. Most of the other guests had made their way away from the table, aside from a few groups of people hanging around nearby. “Aw man,” Peter was saying as the rest of the group came up to join them. “The drinks are all alcohol.”

Shuri sighed and continued to fill a plate with appetizers. “You would think that Happy would have brought you some apple juice, no?” she asked curiously, stepping to the side to let the others approach the table.

“Yeah,” Peter replied thoughtfully, moving back and dropping to his knees suddenly to peer under the table. He gasped loudly and dropped his plate onto the concrete beside him to duck further under the table.

“What is it?” Shuri questioned in excitement.

Peter wiggled himself out from under the table and grinned, showing off the two juice boxes he had returned with. “Happy didn’t forget!”

Shuri chuckled and took one of the boxes gratefully. “Now, all we need is to find some extra cups.”

The two of them glanced around and quickly found a couple of empty wine glasses on the table beside a bottle. They poured their apple juice into the glasses and tossed out their empty boxes before rejoining the rest of the group, who were still mostly clumped together and chatting with one another.

“What are you drinking?” T’challa questioned them when he noticed their cups. “You guys cannot have alcohol.”

Peter chuckled and took a long sip of his beverage. “Wine,” he replied loudly as he swallowed.

Nat, who had been keeping a questioning eye on them, stepped in front of Peter and grabbed his glass away before he could react. Smelling it, she let out a light laugh and gave it an amused look before handing it back to Peter. “It’s apple juice,” she stated, still smiling approvingly as Peter and Shuri exchanged a sad glance.

T’challa huffed and walked away without another word to join someone else’sconversation.

Not exactly listening to anyone, Steve and Bucky stood together awkwardly while Scott aimlessly tried convincing Bruce to try the little tea sandwiches. “No,” Bruce protested, putting a hand up to cover his mouth.

Scott rolled his eyes and shoved the sandwich into his mouth. “Fine,” he mumbled with his mouth full. “I don’t understand what your deal is, though.”

Folding his arms in annoyance, Bruce spun around on his heel and walked off to find Natasha.

“How much longer till we can go inside?” Scott asked Steve, swallowing heavily and letting out a loud breath.

Steve shrugged and glanced around them to avoid having to make eye contact with Scott. “I don’t know,” he replied blankly. “Tony said thirty minutes, but I don’t know how long we’ve been out here.”

Scott nodded and went to reach for another sandwich when Happy called from up near the building, “We’re all ready up here if people want to start coming up!”

Sighing, Scott left the sandwiches and went to follow the others up the path with Steve and Bucky.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHH hello! Sorry for not posting in so long! I promise this chapter was worth the wait, though! It’ll probably be another week at Least before the next chapter, too. :(   
> Alright, enjoy! Please leave some comments and tell me what you think!!

Following slowly after the crowd into the building, Steve and Bucky stayed close together so they didn’t lose track of each other. It was awkward for both of them, but it was also so natural for them to just stick together. 

Once inside and able to look around the big room, Steve and Bucky found a table on the far side of the room and sat down quietly. The building was ringing with loud voices and the quiet background music coming from huge speakers in the corner. Each table had three chairs around it, and Steve glanced around to see if anyone was going to join him and Bucky.

Natasha was a couple of tables down talking to Bruce at a table with Scott and Clint sitting beside him. Steve watched as Clint folded his arms after hearing something from Bruce and stood to let Nat take his seat. As Nat sat down, Steve caught her eye and she immediately grinned. Pointing towards him and Bucky, Nat started saying something while Clint just stood there for a moment. He eventually seemed to give in and walked over to Steve and Bucky’s table, though.

Letting out a quiet breath, Steve relaxed his shoulders a bit in his seat. He and Bucky had hardly said a word to each other since the car ride, and Steve was relieved when Clint sat down so he wouldn’t have to be alone with Bucky all night. 

As Clint leaned into his seat, he gave both Steve and Bucky curious looks and a second later was rising out of the chair, grumbling under his breath, “Why did Nat make me move, this table is way too tense.”

Steve glanced at Bucky briefly before turning to watch in confusion as Clint stepped away and grabbed onto the back of his chair to take it with him. 

Clint continued to mumble to himself as he sulked back towards Bruce’s table with the chair dragging along behind him. Without saying anything, he swung the chair around and squeezed it in between Bruce and Natasha before sitting down and folding his arms in annoyance. Steve could almost hear Natasha’s voice over the rest of the crowd, but couldn’t catch anything she was saying. 

“So,” Steve started nervously after a moment, not sure how to start a conversation to break the silence between him and Bucky. “Those tea sandwiches were pretty good, right?”

Bucky shrugged and kept his eyes on the table in front of him. “Oh, I didn’t have one,” he mumbled quietly.

“Oh,” Steve murmured back, nodding his head and turning away to stare around the room. “Well, they were good.”

“Mhm,” Bucky hummed distractedly, not helping Steve keep the conversation going.

Sighing in defeat, Steve shrugged his blazer higher up onto his shoulders and fell further into his seat. Even though the room was full of loud noises, the silence that fell between Steve and Bucky felt like time had frozen. Steve wasn’t sure what was going on in Bucky’s head, but to be honest, neither did Bucky.

Steve and Bucky sat awkwardly in silence while Tony said his toast and they all rose to get food. The food was set up as a buffet outside, and Steve and Bucky didn’t say anything to each other until they were sitting inside again.

As they ate quietly, Steve noticed Natasha and Bruce laughing with Scott and Clint. Nat had gotten her seat beside Bruce back, and they were all having a good time. Steve wanted to say something, literally anything, to Bucky, but the tension between them kept him from speaking. Just like Steve had thought, the awkwardness between them didn’t seem to be going away any time soon.

After a little while, Bucky got up silently and stepped away to refill his cup. Steve didn’t even bother trying to start up a conversation when he got back, either. They both seemed settled on not saying anything, even though Steve truly hated the silence between them.

About an hour later, when everyone was done eating, a group of people came in and shifted some tables out of the way to open up the dance floor. Pepper and Tony had a lovely first dance, and Steve genuinely smiled at how happy they looked. The urge to look up and see how Bucky was reacting nagged at Steve’s mind, but he continuously pushed it aside and kept his attention on the dance floor until they started letting everyone else up to dance.

“I’m going to go dance,” Steve stated after the first song with everyone up on the dance floor ended. He had seen Bruce and Nat go up, and he definitely wasn’t planning to sit awkwardly next to Bucky for the rest of the night. Steve didn’t necessarily want to get away from Bucky, but the silence was getting to him and he felt like he just needed to get away.

Bucky nodded as Steve stood up, making a small hum to show he had heard Steve but wasn’t planning to join him.

The way Bucky was acting made Steve’s heart clench. The tension, the awkwardness, the silence, along with Bucky barely responding to him made Steve feel like he might have an asthma attack right there and then. Steve let out a long breath as he made his way through the tables and over to the dance floor, immediately catching the swift movement of Nat’s dress within the crowd. 

The DJ was playing very up-beat songs and Steve was instantly caught in the movements of the people around him. Once he found Natasha, she gave him a slightly curious look before grabbing his hand and pulling him over to a less crowded part of the floor where Bruce, Scott, and Clint were. 

Steve shot quick looks back at Bucky through the crowd whenever he could, but Bucky was always in the same place: sitting at the table, with his head hung and his chin resting in his palm.

“Do you want me to get Bucky over here?” Natasha asked Steve loudly over the music as Bruce attempted to dance with her. 

Shaking his head quickly, Steve glanced back over at the tables but he couldn’t see through the group anymore. Natasha was distracted again, anyway, so Steve just chuckled lightly and continued to try and dance. He wasn’t the best dancer, but no one was paying attention to him so he didn’t care.

“Mr. Rogers!”

Steve stopped suddenly at the sound of his name and turned to find Peter practically dragging Bucky over to them. “Huh?” he questioned, glancing quickly from Bucky to Peter. Bucky was avoiding eye contact with Steve and had his metal hand shoved into his pocket while Peter pulled him by his free arm.

“You left Bucky at the table,” Peter explained loudly as he pushed Bucky in front of him to stand facing Steve awkwardly.

Bucky hung his head slightly and gave Peter an annoyed look. “Steve didn’t leave me, Peter. We just don’t do absolutely everything together like you seem to think.”

Peter huffed and gave him a sideways glance. “Yeah, you don’t anymore and that’s a problem,” he said, waving a hand in front of Steve’s face to keep him from interrupting before continuing. “You guys used to never leave each other’s side when you were together, so I’m trying to help you out.”

Finally glancing down to meet Steve’s eyes, Bucky looked sad and confused. They locked eyes for a good minute, neither of them quite sure of what was happening before Peter gave Bucky’s arm a light pat and folded his arms. “Stop it, that’s weird,” he wined, turning on his heel back into the packed crowd. “Don’t forget about Bucky again,” he called back before disappearing. 

Steve chuckled nervously and dropped his head to avoid Bucky’s gaze. “I think Bruce and Nat are over there,” he mumbled, pointing distractedly behind him and looking up briefly. “I was going to go find them again.”

Bucky nodded and stepped forward to follow Steve, being sure not to step too close to avoid bumping into each other.

“Hey!” Nat called the moment she noticed them. “I see you got Bucky out here.”

“Peter dragged me over,” Bucky corrected tiredly, lifting his head up but keeping a blank look.

Nat nodded with a slight frown when Bruce stopped dancing and stepped over to see what was going on. “Well, now you have to dance,” Nat shrugged in amusement and gave Bruce a kind smile. “I know, I’ll stop,” she chuckled.

Steve and Bucky let the two of them dance-off with the crowd and noticed Scott and Clint having the most chaotic dance battle beside them (if dancing is even what you even want to call it). Clint was watching and clapping enthusiastically as Scott moved rapidly to the beat. They were clearly trying to dance, but it looked more like they were having a seizure. Without saying anything, Steve and Bucky watched them nervously. 

“Show us what you got!” Scott called suddenly when he noticed Steve and Bucky, straightening his back and stepping beside Clint to form a tight circle.

Steve gave Bucky a curious look before stepping in and awkwardly showing off a couple of simple moves he knew. As he stepped back, Steve heard Bucky’s quiet chuckle behind him from where he was watching.

“Your turn!” Clint shouted at Bucky. 

Bucky shook his head quickly and took a step back to avoid being dragged in, but Clint didn’t seem in the mood to push so he jumped into the circle and took his own turn. After another round, Scott heard Bruce’s loud voice from the crowd and soon noticed him pushing through to them with Nat trudging closely behind him.

“Dance off!” Bruce cried enthusiastically as he emerged, smiling widely as they opened up the circle to him.

Nat sighed heavily and stood back to watch as more and more people found their way into the (no longer small) circle. Eventually, the ring collected over half the crowd, and both Bucky and Nat were forced to join in. 

The dance-off went from person to person at random, and pretty soon, Bruce was pushing Nat into the circle. “C’mon!” he pleaded excitedly. “It’s fun!”

Nat rolled her eyes at him and stumbled into the circle, smirking at Bruce as the beat dropped and she took her moment. Everyone clapped and cheered as Natasha moved swiftly to the music with style, making it clear that this dance-off was becoming very serious.

Once Nat stepped back into the ring (which now had almost every single guest participating), Bruce grinned proudly and looked to Clint to call out the next person. Not knowing half the people’s names, though, Clint just shouted to them to go around the circle and skip the people who have already gone. 

The dance-off continued and Clint noticed Bucky still standing still beside Steve in the circle. Bucky was close to being called on in the circle, and the music was gradually getting quieter which Clint assumed was because the DJ had a plan for a huge beat drop, but the drop never came.

Still going around the circle and having people jump in, the music continued to get quieter and people slowly stopped dancing as excitedly.

“This song’s for the couples!” the DJ called loudly over the speakers when the music suddenly stopped altogether. He had his head down and seemed completely zoned out with his headphones covering both ears as he started up a quieter tune.

The crowd went up in a cry of complaints as most of them stepped off and back towards the tables. Steve went to follow after Scott, Clint, and even Bruce (who was being followed by Nat as she whined about how they should be dancing to the couples song) but froze when he felt a warm hand wrap around his wrist and pull him back. Steve sucked in a surprised breath as he almost collided with Bucky, but Bucky was prepared and caught him by the shoulders before shifting and starting to sway to the music.

Steve stared up at Bucky in confusion as he looked past him blankly and swayed to the beat. Not really having a choice, Steve fell into the rhythm with Bucky and let his arms fall somewhat naturally around him. “What are you doing?” Steve swallowed heavily, not sure what else he could say.

Bucky opened his mouth to respond, but closed it quickly and fell silent again. Awkwardly holding himself back just enough to keep their bodies separated, Steve tilted his head to stare past Bucky’s shoulder. As they fell deeper into the rhythm of the music, Bucky leaned his head down to mumble, “We need to talk, Steve.”

Steve nodded slowly and hummed nervously in agreement, but he wasn’t sure he and Bucky were thinking the same thing. 

A few awkward seconds passed silently between them and Steve waited for Bucky to say something. Bucky didn’t, though, and they continued swaying awkwardly and silently to the music. Realizing that Bucky was waiting for him to start the conversation, Steve sucked in a breath and dropped his head to hang above Bucky’s shoulder.

“I should tell you something,” Steve murmured at last, letting out a quiet breath and lifting his head to stare blankly over Bucky’s shoulder again.

Bucky’s breathing seemed to catch as Steve spoke and he whispered, “Yeah?”

After a second, Steve sighed heavily and thought for a minute before building up the strength to speak again. “I— I think I’m bisexual,” he mumbled, keeping his voice down to ensure that only Bucky could hear him. Steve could almost feel Bucky’s short intake of breath and prepared himself for Bucky’s reaction. 

“Yeah, I kind of guessed that,” Bucky chuckled, deciding to try and spin Steve at that moment. It went a lot better than he thought it would, and Steve spun swiftly back into Bucky’s arms in surprise. Bucky caught him and laughed before continuing to sway in small circles. Steve chuckled too as he collected himself from the shock and dropped his head to stare into Bucky’s shoulder. 

A quiet moment later, Bucky whispered, “Well, I’m gay, Steve.” Bucky wasn’t exactly out to anyone yet, but almost everyone who knew him already knew that about it.

Steve nodded without lifting his head and Bucky laughed quietly for a second before settling back into a calm, slightly less awkward, silence. 

“There’s something else we need to talk about,” Bucky mumbled after a while, his heart racing and his mind becoming a blur for words as he tried to focus.

“What’s up?” Steve questioned slowly, pulling himself away just enough to meet Bucky’s eyes.

Bucky swallowed and tilted his head slightly as they danced before looking up and locking eyes with Steve’s in a serious stare. They stood so close to each other that Steve could feel every one of Bucky’s shaky breaths. “I’m in love with you, Steve,” he whispered slowly.

Steve froze in his steps, stumbling slightly over his and Bucky’s feet. Bucky held his gaze and stopped dancing with him, arms still settled around Steve’s waist as Steve stared up at him in stunned silence.

Steve gulped in a short breath, unable to tear his eyes from Bucky. “You.. are?” He asked in a low, trembling voice as his heart pounded in his eardrums. 

Bucky blinked and nodded silently, eyes searching Steve’s expression in worry as they stood unmoving in the middle of the dance floor with couples swaying around them to the music.

Steve swallowed and looked down, arms tightening instinctively around Bucky’s shoulders to keep him close when he felt Bucky start to questioningly pull away. “I’m in love with you, too,” he whispered, cheeks growing warm and unable to bring himself to look back up at Bucky, feeling like his whole body was trembling from the nervous beat of his heart.

“Yeah?” Bucky’s voice only barely rose above the sound of the music and crowd around them as his right hand slipped from Steve’s waist, coming up to cup Steve’s chin and gently coax his head back up. 

Steve blinked and met Bucky’s eyes again, shivering under Bucky’s hand resting on his face. “Yeah,” Steve breathed.

The two of them searched each other’s eyes rapidly, Steve’s breath catching as it felt like the world around them had fallen away. The music became lost in Steve’s thoughts while he gazed into Bucky’s gleaming blue eyes, ignoring his heart pounding loudly in his chest. As their eyes stared into one another intently, Steve noticed Bucky’s eyes drop to his mouth for a brief moment, making Steve’s heart skip a beat. After what felt like forever, Bucky’s hand dropped from his face and he wrapped his arms around Steve’s waist. Steve let himself be pulled against Bucky and froze even more as their faces became inches from one another.

Bucky’s face was questioning and Steve reached up to wrap his arms around Bucky’s neck instinctively. Without warning, Bucky practically lifted Steve into him and closed the distance between them, pressing their lips together slowly and questioningly. Shocked by the suddenness of Bucky’s actions, Steve took a second before letting his eyes fall shut and quickly pushing himself up onto his toes before Bucky could pull away from the kiss. Bucky kept his arms wrapped tightly around Steve’s waist a moment longer before breaking away and sucking in a long breath. 

Steve fell back onto his feet and took several, deep breaths as a small smile crept across his face. Bucky was looking down at him with a gleam in his eyes that Steve hadn’t noticed was missing. They shared that stare for another minute before Bucky chuckled and gently leaned back into the sway of the music that was still playing. Steve followed clumsily for a moment until he found the rhythm again, dropping his head into the curve of Bucky’s neck as his body relaxed. 

A million questions that Steve had for Bucky came rushing to his mind in a blur, but he pushed them aside and enjoyed the moment between them. Steve was now aware of the fact that people had seen what had just happened, but he didn’t care. He was happy at that moment and wasn’t going to let anything change that. 

The song ended way too soon, though, making Steve lift his head and break away from Bucky’s arms with a sigh. Bucky frowned when Steve broke away but didn’t stop him. “Who do you think saw?” Steve asked quietly as they remained on the dance floor for a little longer

Bucky laughed and pointed past Steve. “All of them, it looks like.”

Steve whipped around to see Nat and everyone else, including Pepper and Tony, standing from amongst the tables and watching them with both amusement and pride. The only one who stood out to Steve was Strange. Instead of watching Steve and Bucky, he had his eyes locked on the others with confusion.

Realizing that they couldn’t go join the others without being interrogated, Steve grabbed Bucky’s hand and pulled him with him to the empty tables at the other side of the room. 

“I knew it,” Strange stated casually with his arms folded. Everyone’s eyes turned from Steve and Bucky to look questioningly at Strange.

Wong gave Strange a look of disbelief and huffed a quiet, “No, he didn’t.”

Rolling his eyes, Strange dropped his arms and mumbled something under his breath as he trudged across the room and left everyone else to exchange confused looks.

“I think we all knew it,” Natasha chuckled. They all laughed, and hearing the DJ announce the end of the couple’s music, they bounced off into the crowd to dance some more.

———————

“Steve! Bucky! It’s time to go!”

Bucky blinked in confusion and looked around the room to see people around them gathering their things and filing out the door. He and Steve had been talking for what only felt like a few minutes, but had clearly been much longer than they had thought. 

“Already?” Steve mumbled as he, too, glanced around the room. 

Bucky chuckled and stood up, offering a hand to Steve. Taking it, Steve gave Bucky a small smile and they stepped over to join Nat and the others across the room.

“Have Pepper and Tony already left?” Bucky asked with confusion, ignoring everyone’s odd looks and grins. 

Natasha nodded and gave them a wide smile. “Yeah, looks like you two were too busy to notice.”

Rolling his eyes, Steve gently squeezed Bucky’s hand before breaking away to grab their blazers which they had left at their previous table. Bucky dropped his head to avoid interacting with anyone, but no one was going to leave him alone. 

“Damn, it took ya long enough!” Sam huffed loudly, folding his arms and watching as Steve hurried back over with their jackets.

Bucky sighed heavily and took his blazer from Steve. Pulling it around his shoulders, he followed as they all made their way out of the building. Steve stepped close beside Bucky and reached out nervously for his hand. Without hesitation, Bucky clung to Steve’s hand and smiled gently down at him for a brief moment. 

“Okay, who here isn’t drunk?” Natasha asked loudly as they made their way out of the building.

Peter dramatically leaned to one side and bumped Nat’s shoulder before leaning back on his heels. “Not... me!”

Rolling her eyes, Natasha glanced around to see Clint waving from side to side a few steps away. She laughed in amusement and stepped over him to pull him back into the group. “Bruce and I are taking Peter and Scott back to the hotel, so who’s taking Clint?”

“We’re taking him,” Rhodey chuckled from in-between Steve and Sam.

Natasha nodded and followed Rhodey over to the cars with Clint stumbling along after them mumbling nonsense. 

“I knew it!” came a voice from behind them.

Steve whipped around with his hand still interlocked with Bucky’s to see Jareth, the camera guy, rushing out of the building to join them all. 

“Knew what?” Bucky asked curiously, watching as Jareth came panting up beside them. 

“You’re together!” he exclaimed, pointing at their hands aggressively and practically jumping up and down.

Bucky laughed and squeezed Steve’s hand a little tighter. “Well, we weren’t,” he explained with a grin. 

“Aw,” Jareth cooed softly. “Did I do this, then? By, y’know, thinking you two were already a couple?”

Chuckling, Steve shrugged and watched as the others were making the way towards the cars and tugged gently on Bucky’s arm. “Yeah, sure,” he laughed, taking a step back and making it clear they were about to leave. Steve

Jareth had a wide grin plastered onto his face, and it was only growing. “I expect to be the photographer for your wedding!” he chimed enthusiastically, waving as they stood there about to follow after the others.

“Alright,” Bucky laughed. “Will do!” 

Steve’s breath caught suddenly at Bucky’s answer and he looked up questioningly at him. Seeing Bucky’s gentle expression, Steve immediately looked away and shoved the moment aside.

Grinning uncontrollably, Jareth dropped his hand and turned to skip down the other side of the sidewalk. “Okay! Bye!”

**Author's Note:**

> ~thanks for reading... kudos and comments appreciated as always ~.~


End file.
